Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own
by SixEcho
Summary: Her orders were simple. Lead her team to an alien planet, perform a threat assessment, retrieve Doctor Jackson, and come back home… that was the easy part. Nobody ever told her she’d have to recruit a certain Colonel Jack O’Neill into the SGC. SJ
1. Default Chapter

**Title: **Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own

**Summary:** Her orders were simple. Lead her team to an alien planet, perform a threat assessment, retrieve Doctor Jackson, and come back home… that was the easy part. Nobody ever told her she'd have to recruit a certain Colonel Jack O'Neill into the SCG the minute she got back. S/J, AU

**Rating:** T for naughty language… may be changed later to M later for naughty... other things.

**Pairing:** Sam/Jack

**Disclaimer:** Don't. Own. Anything.

**A/N: **This fic is completely AU, beginning at the start of the series… with a few changes. Be warned, I'm not a fan of actual plots, so don't expect some twisty turny story here.

* * *

"…Base camp was hit while we were on recon, sir. By the time we'd gotten back to the Stargate, it was too late... there were heavy casualties, Major Ferreti included, and we had to fall back to the SGC. Dr. Jackson urged the Abydonians to bury the Stargate, to prevent Apophis from returning, and we… left." 

Colonel Carter sat up a little straighter. As far as a first missions were concerned, this one hadn't gone off as well as she'd hoped... considering it _was_ her first time to an alien planet. The thought still astounded her. She glanced around the briefing room table. Kawalsky was sombre - for a change - but it was Daniel who she was concerned about. The archaeologist seated beside her was lost in his own thoughts. He hadn't said a word, not after he'd stepped back on Earth and insisted on finding his wife.

"So are we just going to sit here talking for the rest of the day?" Daniel asked with a heavy sigh, taking off his glasses, and rubbing the bridge of his nose in agitation.

"Procedure, Jackson. I realize you want to find your wife... I assume she was taken by the same hostiles who came through the Stargate?" the General asked, scribbling notes on a document before him, even though their briefing was being recorded anyway.

"Yes sir, it was those dammed metal wearing bastards," Kawalsky clarified, feeling a monumental sense of guilt. He'd been there, seen it happen.

"I have to find her General, I can't..." Daniel couldn't finish his sentence.

"We think Feretti may have seen the coordinates for the planet they took her to," Sam added with more confidence than she felt. There was no certainty Feretti would ever regain consciousness, let alone remember the coordinates.

"So what are you saying, Colonel? You want to go after them and risk endangering Earth more than we already have?" Hammond asked, his ball point pen tapping the briefing table.

"Yes sir. Permission to launch a rescue operation. Immediately." Sam said, with a slight edge to her voice.

"Request denied...at least for the moment. Let's not kid ourselves people, we're in way over our heads. If it were up to me, that ring would have stayed buried in the ground..."

Hammond looked up at the defeated faces before him, deciding to put them out of their misery.

"...Unfortunately for me, the president seems to agree with all of you. In the event these theories about the Stargate's capabilities pan out, he has ordered the formation of nine teams, whose duties will be to perform reconnaissance, determine threats and if possible, to make peaceful contact with the peoples of these worlds. These teams will operate on a covert, top-secret basis. No one will know of their existence except the President and the Joint Chiefs."

With no response except silence and widened eyes, he continued.

"Colonel Carter, your team will be designated SG1. It will consist of yourself, Major Kawalsky, Major Feretti, and-"

"Me." Daniels voice was soft yet decisive.

"Doctor, the frontlines are no place for a-"

"No! General... please, I know this is your decision, but I just… really have to be on their team." he pleaded.

"Sir. I have no objection," Sam stated, "Dr. Jackson's expertise will no doubt be of use."

Truthfully, Sam had no idea if this was true. She was still trying to wrap her mind around this... traveling to other planets... her own team! She couldn't help but feel a small glow of satisfaction, which brought with it a certain guilt considering the circumstances.

General Hammond frowned for a moment before looking back up. "I'll give it some thought… but even if I do agree, it will be strictly on a trial basis Doctor. Now Colonel, you have a rescue mission to plan... your schedule and official orders are waiting for you on your desk. See to it that you team is prepared. You have all the facilities of this base at your disposal."

"Thank you sir." Sam nodded, feeling slightly overwhelmed.

"What about O'Neill?" Kawalsky asked suddenly.

"Jack O'Neill?" Daniel asked with a slight smile, "That's a name I never thought I'd hear again. How's he doing? I half expected him to have returned to Abydos to 'retrieve me'."

"Colonel O'Neill turned down the option to return to the SGC, there's nothing we can do about that presently." the General informed.

"He wasn't even told it _was_ about the Stargate. He probably figured the mission involved a trip to the Middle East. If he knew what was really going on, he'd join us. We can't pull off this mission without him," Kawalsky said firmly.

"We've managed to get this far _without _O'Neill," Sam said, pointedly.

"With all due respect Colonel, we were lucky. If we're thinking of planning a tactical strike on an enemy we barely know, then Jack's the guy we need on this operation. He lead us on the first mission to Abydos, and killed Ra!" Kawalsky urged.

"He **also** failed to carry out his orders to destroy the Abydonian Stargate… Then he falsified the report! " Sam argued, getting irritated quickly.

"Well he couldn't just blow up a populated planet!"

"That's not the point!"

"Of course that's the-!"

"Major! Colonel!" The General snapped.

They both jumped, turning to their CO.

"Personally, I think we need every last bit of experience we have on this operation, but that doesn't change the fact that Colonel... _Mister_ ...O'Neill is retired, and flat out refused the assignment when he was approached by us, which is why it was passed to you, Colonel Carter, in the first place. Now you have exactly 48 hours before you leave. If either of you can convince O'Neill to change his mind, then we'd be much better off. Otherwise you're on your own. Now go home and get some rest... all of you. Dr. Jackson, please refrain from contact with any friends or family until we come up with a cover story for your sudden return from the dead. Anything else?"

Nobody said a word.

"Good, dismissed."

No less than five seconds after Hammond stepped out of the room, Kawalsky felt a stinging punch in his arm.

"Aghr! Carter, why'dya-"

"What the hell was that Kawalsky!" Sam snapped, getting to her feet, and looking down at her subordinate with a violent stare.

"What was _what_?"

"You practically called me incompetent in front of the General! You just couldn't wait to get me out of the way so that you and O'Neill could skip through the Stargate hand-in-hand and explore alien planets 'till your heart's content! God- why is everyone on this base so in love with Jack O'Neill!"

"Wha-huh? I said no such thing!" Kawalsky said, looking to Daniel for support. The archaeologist raised his empty mug, and mumbled something about 'no caffeine on Abydos' before making a hasty exit.

"Coward!" Kawalsky called after him, turning to face his now extremely frustrated CO.

He wisely waited a few seconds for her to calm down before speaking. It was no secret around base that she was **not **someone you wanted to piss off.

"Look, Colonel Carter... I know I gave you a really hard time at the start when I found out I'd have to take orders from a scientist... and yeah, a _woman_-"

"Well that's your proble-"

"Hear me out will ya! Jeepers, I'm trying to say that I grossly underestimated your abilities, but I've learned my lesson. There's a reason why you made the rank of Colonel so early, and I respect that."

"You just think O'Neill could do a better job than me." She stated, eyes narrowed.

"Yes. I mean- no... Argh! You make me nervous, y'know that? Permission to speak freely."

"Granted."

"We'd have a better chance with O'Neill on our side, Carter. That's just the plain truth. I think rescuing Dr. Jackson's wife is more important than maintaining your..."

"Go on, say it."

"Ego."

Sam sighed, sinking back into her seat. All at once feeling petulant and childish for wanting to protect her position at the SGC this way. Sure, she'd made Colonel young, but she'd been passed up for a hundred different career opportunities because people felt safer with a man in charge... but this wasn't about her.

"You're right Charlie."

"Whoa- can I get that in writing!"

"Don't be an ass."

"Sorry... so... what now?"

Sam bit her lower lip, hating having to recruit someone new to this mission. Regardless of the fact that they shared the same rank, O'Neill would automatically be given leadership since he was the senior officer... she wasn't sure if she was ready to give that up. Looks like she didn't have much of a choice though- she couldn't let herself be territorial, not when there was so much at stake.

"O'Neill. Find him, bring him here. Drag his butt here if need-be, but get it done. The General obviously thought it was a good idea... let the Colonel know that we _just _need him for one mission. ONE."

"I wish it were that simple… He won't listen to me, I'm his buddy. He needs to hear this from someone else..."

"Daniel then. He'd be up to it."

"No-can-do. Daniel's not supposed to come into contact with anyone yet, remember? We can't tell Jack about this until he agree's he's in."

"Shit. Well Feretti can't do it, so who the hell did you have in mind to pay him a visi— oh no! NO. Forget about it."

"Aw c'mon Carter! Just make an official visitation, confuse him with all your big words and geek-talk. He won't know what hit him."

Sam rolled her eyes, "Listen Major, you can forget about it right now, the answer's no."

"I'll give you fifty bucks."

"Wh-what?"

"Carter, I'm tired and hungry, and I don't have nearly enough energy to argue with a superior officer. So what d'ya say?"

Sam smirked… as much as she detested the man, she was incredibly curious to meet Jack O'Neill, if only to prove that he'd lost his edge during retirement. Probably spent his days with a beer in one hand and a tv remote in the other.

"Make it a hundred and we've got a deal Kawalsky."

"Done."

* * *

Jack O'Neill had a beer in one hand and a tv remote in the other. 

He had stumbled into his home a few moments ago, deciding to drink brood in private instead of at a bar... not much difference, the effect would wear off too soon, and he'd have just as good a chance of getting laid here... which wasn't very good at all. He put down his half filled beer bottle, deciding he was done with it. He never allowed himself to get so drunk he couldn't neutralize a weapons grade explosive in under two minutes. Granted, you'd have to actually _tell_ him it was a bomb, or he might just throw up all over it instead.

He hated living like this. Maybe someone had called?

_'You have no new messages'_

Jack glared at the answering machine before falling into his couch. Figures nobody would remember.

He hated birthdays. Especially his own. Life used to be so simple... he remembered turning twenty-three and being single, with nothing to care about but himself. Now he was forty-three and divorced... with nothing to care about but himself.

Just wasn't the same thing.

Jack glanced to the phone which had, surprisingly, started ringing.

"O'Neill."

"Jack, is she there yet?"

"Charlie, you make less and less sense every time I talk to you."

"Damn... I thought she'd be there by now. She already took my money, so she'd better be," he heard Kawalsky mutter.

"You paid some woman to come here?" Jack asked confused.

"Long story. Let's just say you'll be getting an interesting surprise on your doorstep any moment, and I hope you accept."

"A surprise? Well at least someone remembered."

"Remembered what? Shit-- gotta go Jack, duty calls and such."

Jack heard a click and a dial tone.

"Well that was odd," he said to to an empty room.

No sooner had he sat down, his doorbell rang. Repeatedly.

"Kawalsky, this better be a massive sized birthday cake... or beer. Beer cake? Hmmm..."

More ringing. Then some knocking.

"Yeah, yeah I'm right here, no need to- "

Jack flung open the door... which was precisely the same moment when he felt his thoughts grind to a halt.

"Colonel O'Neill I presume?"

* * *

Review please: ) 


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Oh yeah! Someone figured out what was going on in Jack's head, nicely done. ; ) Thanks for all the comments! I'm really not taking this fic in a serious/angsty sense, and there's really no purpose other than to have S/J jump each other… eventually. Carter being a Colonel is completely unbelievable, sure, but it's a fic, so guess who has the power? --insert evil laugh--.

Don't worry! Kawalsky's definitely staying alive, promise. As you can probably tell from this chapter, this is where the sillyness starts.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"Colonel O'Neill I presume?"

"Uh...huh…er…" He replied suavely.

"I'm Colonel Samantha Carter, USAF."

She offered him a snappy salute which he couldn't help but return, retired though he was. Jack swallowed hard, his throat was dry, as he tried to process what Kawalsky had...

"Charlie, you dog!" Jack laughed to himself, finally figuring out what wad going on. Sure, he could be thick sometimes, but things eventually fell into place. His birthday. The surprise. The really hot woman standing on this doorstep in 'uniform'… it almost looked real.

"Excuse me?" she asked, frowning.

"Oh... you're a... ah... Charlie sent you, right?" Jack asked, making sure he wasn't about to make an idiot out of himself.

"Major Kawalsky sent me, yes. Actually, he paid me. It wasn't really high priority... but from everything I've heard about you, I can't say I'm not curious," she said, grinning almost as an afterthought..

"O-kay. I can't say I'm not impressed, Kawalsky got this right, it's practically my fantas-"

"Mind if I come in? I'm not really the small talk kind of person. I'd rather get this over with."

Jack really had no words for that, so he stood still as she maneuvered around him with all the skill of a salesperson. He probably should have refused right then but...

"So Kawalsky went all out on this, didn't he? How much did he pay you?" Jack said, clearing his throat and following her inside.

"Enough." The blonde shrugged a shoulder, making herself so very comfortable on the couch. His couch.

"Well... uh Samantha, was it? Nice name. Assuming you go by that usually." He added, his mind trying to keep up with the words coming out of his mouth. His momentary shock was wearing off and he was coming back to his senses, slowly. Honestly, he still had a slight buzz from the alcohol, which wasn't helping him process things.

"I'd prefer it if you'd call me Colonel Carter for the duration of our working relationship," she stated.

Jack grinned. Charlie had taught her well. She was practically the fantasy of every Airman... the attitude... gorgeous eyes... long legs... and the uniform...!

"So tell me... Colonel what exactly did you do to climb the ranks so quickly?" he asked, deciding it wouldn't hurt to play along.

"Well I figured out some of the key systems that monitor energy outputs in various sectors of the military, and from what I've been told, I've helped revolutionize the quantum model that-"

"Arghh! A scientist? Kawalsky screwed up on that... science is a big turn off for me. Huge. You shouldda said something like... you logged air time in the Gulf."

"I **did** log airtime in the Gulf."

"Ah, see much better," Jack grinned, wondering what she'd look like in a fighter pilot jumpsuit. Maybe next time... Argh! No. No next time. No this time.

"So since Kawalsky told you why I'm here, have you considered the proposal?"

Jack sighed, cursing whatever morals he lived by.

"Look, I can't do this. I want to, believe me I want to, but I can't."

She looked slightly disappointed, before a look of determination passed over her features. Damn her, she wasn't going to make this easy.

"Look, I came here for a reason. I'm not going to just walk away, now what do I have to do to get you on in on this? "

"I... I..."

"How long has it been since your last time out in the field, O'Neill?"

Jack paused to think about it. After Sara there had been a few women he'd picked up in bars. Nothing real, nothing lasting, nothing mindblowing enough to write home about. He wondered what it would be like with a woman like 'Colonel Carter'. She was definitely high end, that was for sure.

"A couple of months..." he admitted.

"Well don't you miss it! The rush, the energy..."

"You don't understand... this is new for... I don't usually...I'm not the kinda guy who…"

Jack paused, trying to form a coherent sentence. He hadn't exactly had a ring on Sara's finger before they were together, and it's not like he didn't do casual, but this was just…

"If I'd met you in a bar or something, then I would not have hesitated." He said in way of explanation.

"Oh... I didn't even think about that, I just assumed you'd be alone. Is your wife at home or something? Maybe you'd be more comfortable doing this somewhere else."

"Yes. I mean- no! No wife. Yes… What?"

"Look Colonel, I really don't have time for this. Now my orders were to get you, so what's your decision? Just say you'll come and I'll debrief you right here. Offer expires in thirty seconds," she said as an ultimatum.

"Fuck it. Fine! But just this one time, and that's it- I don't go about it this way, ever, and I don't intend to do it again..." he said firmly.

"One time is all I need."

"What about protection?"

"Of course, security is always high priority,"" she said getting to her feet. with a smile.

Jack stood instinctively, "Bedroom's that way."

"...what?"

"Oh, sorry, did you want it on the couch or something? It's pretty big, I think it handle it."

"Excuse me, Colonel O'Neill, I'm not sure I'm following..."

"It's okay, we can drop the act. Besides, a 'Colonel' was much too high for someone as young as you anyway. Captain would have been more believable," he said taking off his shirt, balling it in his hands and tossing it aside.

She was completely speechless, staring at him, and Jack allowed himself a smug smile.

_'Still got it with the ladies Jack boy' _he said to himself.

He wasn't entirely sure what happened after that. If you asked him years from now, he still couldn't say exactly what occurred... his was mind fogged with beer and lust, his arousal growing increasingly hard by the way she stared at him, with wide blue eyes, almost frozen in place. One moment he was beside her, hand trailing beneath her dress blues, right up the sides of her thighs... and now...

Now he was lying on the floor with a split lip, a bleeding nose, and what felt like a bruised rib.

"O'NEILL, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!"

"I... you... what? Sex! "

"What?"

"Aren't you a... You're a..."

"I'm a USAF officer! I came to see you on official business, like I TOLD you- Why the hell would you think I was here for... that."

"Well Charlie said-"

"I was a _prostitute_?" he voice rose several pitches.

Jack winced, "No! Well, see it's my birthday, and he mentioned something about a surprise-"

"Look, whatever. I've dealt with enough men like you in my past, O'Neill. I shouldn't be so shocked. I was here to request your participation on the Stargate project. It's been reopened, and the operation has grown bigger since your last mission. Personally, I don't want you coming with us The fact that you falsified your report- oh yeah we know about that- speaks for itself. I have little faith in you as an officer and even less respect for you as a man... but if you can help us on this mission, then I have no say in the matter."

"So... not a hooker?"

She closed her eyes for a brief moment, and when she opened them, they were a smoldering angry color. Had she been wearing a sidearm, Jack had no doubt she would have used it.

"No," her voice dropped to a dangerously low level, "For the good of the mission, I'm willing to forget this little... _misunderstanding_ ever happened, but I swear to God, O'Neill, touch me again and you'll have a court martial on your hands before you know what hit you."

With that, she spun around, slamming the door so loudly Jack was sure she'd broken it. As his mind started catching up, an intense feeling of mortification set over him. He just lay on the floor, letting it sweep over him. His nose throbbed, his tongue tasted fresh blood, and he ached all over from a dying hard on.

Perfect way to end a birthday.

* * *

"Off somewhere Daniel?" Kawalsky asked, on his way to the surface. 

The archaeologist shook his head, leaning against the cold stone walls of the SGC hallways.

"Hey, buddy, what's wrong?"

"Nothing... they just... they don't know what to do with me," he sighed.

Kawalsky rolled his eyes. "C'mon, we're getting outta here... move it Jackson!"

Daniel complied automatically, following the Major's footsteps.

"Where are we going, exactly."

"You can stay at my place tonight."

"Really?"

"Yeah, just don't _tell _anyone. I've got that hardass reputation to keep."

"Of course."

The two made their way to the surface, getting into the black Humvee.

"So any word on Jack?"

"Carter wasn't there the last time I called... I told him how I'd paid for a little surprise from for him though." Kawalsky smirked.

"Oh yeah? Well that was appropriate considering it's his birthday."

"What!"

"Jack's birthday... it's the sixteenth today, right? Abydonian calendars are very similar to the Earth based-"

"How the hell could you remember thing like that?"

Daniel shrugged, "Archaeologist. Good with dates."

"Riiight. That's kinda funny though. Expecting a birthday present, and getting Carter instead." Kawalsky laughed.

"Unless he thinks she _is_ the present," Daniel added, joining in.

The sound of laughter filled the vehicle before it died. Abruptly.

"Charlie, you don't think..."

"Nah... I mean..."

"It's possible... Sam's a very attractive woman, and Jack's a..."

"…Very stupid man," Kawalsky finished off with a groan.

* * *

Ringing... doorbell? God, she wasn't back was she? 

No, not doorbell. Phone.

Too far away.

_"Jack! It's Charlie pick up. Now. It's important."_

With a groan Jack pulled himself off the floor, snatching the floor.

"Forget to tell me something Kawalsky?" he asked, wincing as he touched the bridge of his nose.

"Jack-- thank God. First of all Happy Birthday. Betcha thought I forgot, huh? Well I did, but I'll make it up to you. Now about before, that little 'surprise' I was talking about isn't so much a surprise as it is a high ranking USAF officer stopping by to disclose some sensitive information. She's kinda... uh... hot. I just didn't want you to get the wrong idea."

"The wrong idea? Oh, you mean like thinking she's a dolled up hooker, then stripping in front of her? Well thanks a bunch for letting me know Kawalsky. That would have been SO humiliating."

"Jaaaack, please say you didn't! For crap's sake, the woman's our expert on the Stargate- piss her off and you can find yourself stranded on another you-know-what!"

"I have to come back, don't I? Something important must be going down, or they would have sent someone like her to see me."

"Well, I may have bribed her a little."

"Which would explain why she said you'd paid for her."

"She said that?"

"I swear to God Charlie, if you're laughing..."

"No! Sorry, I'm not."

"Shit. How the hell am I going to face her again? I acted like such an ass."

"As opposed to usually, when you're an absolute sweetheart?"

"Charlie!"

"Sorry! Look, just relax, I'll take care of it. I'll tell her... I'll tell her you were shot in the head in the Middle East, and lost the ability to reason. Trust me, it'll be fine."

Jack groaned, held his head in his hands.

"Fine... I'll see you at Cheyenne tomorrow."

"Sure thing Colonel."

Jack hung up his phone. It was going to be a really long mission briefing.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

Don't hate me for not updating! I wrote about eleven pages, but it turned out all angsty and depressing, so I tossed it and rewrote it more lighthearted… and slightly silly. Also, very distracted by the season premieres of SG1, Atlantis and Galactica, so there's another good excuse. : )

Onward with the fic...

---------------------------

**Chapter 3**

Jack waved away his security escort, ensuring the man that he'd be fine on his own and wouldn't get lost, or spill coffee on any of the expensive equipment.

Cheyenne Mountain. In some sense, it was like coming home to a family. A completely dysfunctional family who ran around with guns, but a family nonetheless.

The first thing he'd done was meet with General George Hammond. Nice guy... from Texas. He'd been issued a new ID badge as well a string of security codes that he'd have to write on his hand to remember, if he bothered to at all. It had felt good to exchange his civilian clothes for a pair of BDU's... suddenly it seemed like he'd never left the SGC. Of course, there were more than a few changes. First of all there were way more personnel running around, looking wide eyed and panicked. Extra hallways that had once held storage facilities had been converted into labs, offices, and holding cells. The coffee machine had moved two inches to the right. Other than that, the people were exactly the same. All on high alert, like the world was going to end sometime within the next three minutes. God- he'd missed the energy of the military. The atmosphere was thick with it. There wasn't much of a life left for him since he'd retired, which was why he'd never expected a visit from one of the USAF's elite.

Colonel Samantha Carter.

An actual Colonel, not a hooker. His nose still throbbed with a mixture of pain and embarrassment as he remembered last night. He figured he should apologize eventually, but he loathed having to face her again. The woman really knew how to hit a man, and he didn't doubt that she'd had some practice. Somehow she'd managed to get his nose and split his lip in one stroke. Now if he could just make it to the infirmary to get a few magic pain-relieving pills, and avoid a run in with-

"Colonel Carter! What did you do to your hand?"

"Call me Sam, doc... and you don't want to know."

Jack skidded to a halt, just inside the doorway of the infirmary. Years of special ops training and cub scouts failed him, as he stood wide eyed and almost frozen in place. There she was, Carter, sitting on one of the beds looking like she'd rather be anywhere else. She turned to his direction, a second after he side stepped into one of the storage rooms.

He rolled his eyes at his obvious reflex reaction, but he was pretty certain he hadn't been seen. He wasn't hiding. Jack O'Neill never hid from anything, unless it was three times his body weight and carrying a big honkin' gun.

"Well did the other guy walk away from this?" Jack heard the small brunette, presumably the doctor, ask warily.

"Unfortunately," came Carter's clipped reply.

Jack grimaced at her tone, but he supposed it was a good thing she didn't mention his name.

"Look, it's really nothing, doesn't even hurt, so can you just clear me to go off world already?" Carter persisted.

"Well nothing's broken, just a little swollen… I can prescribe some mild-"

"No pills. The mission is in under six hours, need to be on my feet."

"These won't affect your performance, Sam. It's not even worth putting on your medical record, now take them, and I'll see you when you get back."

The young Colonel nodded in reply, hopping off the infirmary bed, and unknowingly passing the other Colonel as she left the infirmary. He sighed in relief before straightening up like he _hadn't_ just been undercover in a storage room.

"Doc! The name's O'Neill, just joined the SGC. I'm probably going to be in here a lot, so I figured I'd stop by, check the place out, sample some of the pain meds, y'know? So what do you say… Janet?" he asked, reading the woman's name tag and offering a charming smile.

"I take it the meds are for that nose? Let me guess... _'I don't want to know'_?" she said, flipping open a new medical file, without missing a beat.

"Exactly."

"I should look at that lip too, Looks like it may need stitch-"

"Ah! I see we need to set up some ground rules. Firstly, no needle goes near me, ever."

"I'll remember that for when you're lying on a gurney with your internal organs hanging out."

"Excellent. So meds? I'll have whatever Carter had."

Janet sighed, tossing the man the small white bottle, and accurately assuming he wouldn't read the label, she added, "No more than two every six hours, got it?"

"Yes Ma'am!"

Jack headed down to the briefing room, taking the long way around. He wasn't avoiding _her _so much as avoiding everyone else. It had taken some time for the news of his return to circulate and now… apparently he was some sort of an icon. The guy who killed the evil Lord whatsit back on Abydos. A brilliant tactician. A hero.

Jack snorted to himself. While killing Ra hadn't exactly been a walk on the sunny side of the street, he could have never done it without his team… and one dorky Archaeologist who'd chosen a life of sand and sun.

He paused at the entrance, taking a steadying breath before stepping inside.

"Boys! Miss me?"

Like all briefing rooms he'd ever entered, this one was brimming with an uneasy excitement. The group of men involved in their own discussion abruptly ceased their banter and turned to him simultaneously. They broke out in greeting and crowded around him, shaking his hand before beginning the traditional male back-slapping ritual.

It was so good to see a few familiar faces in the group... Kawalsky, Ferreti (true to character, with his arm in a sling), Warren, and of course Daniel. Wait-- Daniel?

"Daniel?"

"Jack!" the young archaeologist all but leapt from his seat.

"DANIEL?"

''JACK!"

"...And then they ran through fields of yellow daisies into each other's arms," Kawalsky sighed, "I love reunions."

Jack thwacked the major in the back of the head.

"Why didn't you tell me Daniel was here?" Jack snapped, "How you doing Danny?" he asked grasping the other man's shoulder's as if to make sure he was really there.

"I've... been better Jack." the other man admitted, his smile faltering for the first time.

"No kidding! I honestly didn't think you'd make it a week on Abydos without dying of heat exhaustion, or getting eaten by one of those drooling yak things. Sure you're okay? Who would have thought... Daniel Jackson an Earthling again."

"We'll talk about it later- wow, what did you do to yourself?" Daniel asked, noticing the bruising on the Colonel's face.

"Weirdest thing. I was sleepwalking, and got attacked by a really vicious... door. Long story. So what brings you back to the SGC? Thought you'd buried the Stargate back on Abydos?"

"Now _that_ would be a long story. Sam will cover it in the briefing I guess. I'm assuming you've accepted the mission?"

"Of course he accepted the mission. You can take the man outta the action..." Kawalsky grinned.

"Hey- I was perfectly content with my lifestyle," Jack lied. "The Air Force just finds it convenient to pull me out of retirement whenever they feel like it."

"Just one job and you can go right back to retirement," a voice from the doorway said coolly.

Jack's eyes snapped up, and he had that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Colonel." He said, clearing his throat.

"Ah, at least we got my rank right this time O'Neill," she smoothly entered the room, nodding in greeting to the rest of the airmen.

"Hey Jack- I didn't get a chance to do that... thing... we talked about yesterday." Kawalsky warned, referring to the fact that he hadn't given Sam Carter the Colonel-O'Neill's-a-charming-blundering-idiot-please-forgive-him speech, and probably wasn't going to.

Jack tossed him a 'no shit?' look. "That's okay. I can handle it myself." he replied with a forced grin.

"Hey Daniel, you going to be okay for this briefing?" Sam asked, touching the man's arm reassuringly as she took a seat beside him. He nodded in reply.

Jack almost didn't recognize her voice once it dropped the icy formality. He realized Carter must have been the one who'd gone and retrieved Daniel from Abydos in the first place… but what the hell for?

"So! Where's General Hammond?" Jack asked, leaning back in his seat, eager for some answers.

"The meeting concerning mission objectives took place yesterday. This briefing is for your benefit, to get you up to speed on what's going on, and to strategize our method of entering the enemy camp. Now if there are no more questions, I'd like to get started." Sam asked, pulling out neatly arranged documents and passing them around.

Jack sighed... he hadn't expected her to welcome him with open arms and cookies, but the ice queen routine wasn't helping. At least he had his old team on his side. He'd been surprised by flood of memories seeing their faces had brought back. Of course, he'd run into Kawalsky and the guys every now and then to catch up over drinks... but it wasn't the same. They'd brought back memories of his first off-world mission- good and bad.

"Hey Daniel, where's that wife of yours? Sha're, wasn't it?"

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"What? What did I say?"

_( a few painful hours later )_

Sam groaned inwardly. Jack O'Neill was making things so difficult- and she could have sworn it was intentional. So maybe she hadn't _exactly_ been pleasant to him in return, but who could blame her? The man had mistaken her for a hooker, and she was certain she'd never been more insulted in her entire life. That did not, however, stop her from laughing herself silly for a good half hour after she'd left his home. She usually prided herself on her composure, but the whole situation had been so ridiculous, and she knew he must have been equally embarassed. Not that she was about to admit that to him. There had been a pang of guilt on her part for swinging at him so hard, but she'd read his file (as well as some parts she wasn't _supposed_ to have read) so she knew he could take it. Unfortunately, he was back to being an incorrigible ass again this morning, but this wasn't about personality. It was about the damn mission... and if he and Daniel kept this incessant banter going any longer, she was going to go insane... or simply cry. The latter would have _really _distressed the room full of very male airmen.

"So... there's more of Ra's race around, and that's the guy who came through the Stargate, and they took your wife?" Jack asked, wide eyed.

"Yes." Daniel affirmed.

"And they're the Goold?"

"Goa'uld yes."

"...Ra was a Gool'aud?"

"Uh huh."

"So is Apophis?"

"Correct."

"So... Ra... is Apophis?"

"Yes. No- what?"

"Ugh!" Sam finally exclaimed out of sheer intellectual frustration.

"Listen O'Neill," she said, holding his attention immediately.

"Us good. Apophis bad. Clear enough for you?" she said, slowly for his benefit.

"Ah, see that's all I really needed. What's our game plan?" he asked with innocent curiosity, tapping his long fingers rhythmically on the table... just enough to drive her crazy, but not reason enough to shoot him.

Even his grin was infuriating. He was clearly playing dumb on purpose, but Sam had also noticed how he made Daniel smile --really smile-- for the first time since she'd met either of them. At least something good had come of this.

"That's what we were hoping you could help us out with Jack," Kawalsky said, not bothering to mask the urgency in his voice. "Tell us what arsenal you think we should be packing? Chances are they've got this place set up like on the ship. These guys aren't big on originality."

"Small arms and P90s would be a good place to start. Anything bigger than that can be transported on the MALP,." Sam cut in before Jack could reply.

"Looks like you've got it all figured out, Carter." Jack said dryly.

"Well I _have_ had a lot longer to think about this than you have. No need to feel bad about it." she said with a reassuring, and oh-so-very condescending smile.

"Then I suppose you've already got a squeaky clean plan to get a foot in through the door?"

"Actually, I've taken the liberty of creating a digitally rendered model of the fortress based on the schematics the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle returned to us."

"What she say?" Jack asked his teammates his breath.

"She drew us a picture," Kawalsky explained.

"Ah, I like pictures!" Jack said as she popped up a diagram on the screen..

"Sorry to dissapoint you O'Neill, but these pictures aren't topless and they don't come with name's like 'Bambi' or 'Chiquita'," Sam said dryly, sending a muted ripple of laughter through her audience before Jack silenced them with a glare.

"As I was saying... this is the enemy base. The yellow markers indicate foot patrols, the blue are defense posts. The red structure is obviously a fort of some kind. Preliminary readings indicate its walls -- marked in orange -- are made of an irregular sediment, nothing a few stick of C4 can't handle. Assuming there are no sub-levels or autonomic defense mechanisms against us, getting through shouldn't be a problem. The area is particularly dense with vegetation, but we can still advance through the paths marked in blue, indigo, and yellow. Understood?"

Sam's smile faltered a little as a silence filed the room.

A hand raised in the air.

"Yes Colonel," Sam sighed.

"What's the green?"

"Trees," she replied almost defensively.

"Trees? Why the hell would you put trees on a tactical strike diagram? Carter, sit. It's my turn."

"But I haven't finish-"

He walked up to her, pulling her little laser pointer out of her fingers, "I'm sure whatever you were going to say next was simply fascinating, but half these men aren't following you, and the rest are still trying to figure out what color 'indigo' is. This is why you brought me here in the first place, now give me a little space here, will ya?"

Something in his voice made her nod in reply. He hadn't blatantly given her an order, but he _was_ insisting on a little trust.

"Okay boys! Gather 'round- can I borrow this, Danny?" Jack asked grabbing the Archaeologist's coffee mug and placing it at the center of the table.

"That... is the enemy base."

Sam could do nothing but watch in amazement... and feel slightly envious. While the airmen had looked at her with panicked, glazed over eyes, they'd loosened up and concentrated as O'Neill outlined a different –annoyingly better- strategy. So maybe he wasn't the washed up Colonel who_ used _to be good at his job. She knew now not to underestimate him and she wasn't going to make that mistake again. He'd obviously been keenly aware of everything she'd said even though he'd been doodling happy faces on the table for the first half hour. Now he'd stepped into a position of control, and she couldn't find fault with that.

Sixteen minutes.

That's how long it took him to come up with a tactical strike and explain it to the twelve other people in the room, whereas she'd agonized over her strategy for two days. Of course, he glanced at her unnecessarily complicated computer model every now and then, but it was all laid out on the table. Literally.

"Now Kawalsky, your team is the paperclip. Carter, Daniel and I are the pencil. "

"Whoa- how come you get to be the pencil?"

"Because we have Carter on our team. We're sharper than you." Jack explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "As I was saying. Paperclip rounds from the North-East, pencil from the south to establish a perimeter blocking the passage to the Stargate. I want claymores all along the ridge, set up other defenses as you see fit- if there's a firefight, I want to be able to take them out at a distance. That said, you will **not** directly engage the enemy unless forced to do so. Starting a war is not what we're here to do, so I want one clean strike on this one, kids. When things get messy, people die." Jack stated, handing it off to Sam to continue.

"Our goal is to retrieve Sha're. Gaining intelligence on the Goa'uld is secondary but it's still a priority," she explained, "Both teams will each be given two GDO's. This device broadcasts an identification code through an open wormhole, so the SGC will know who's knocking at the door. I strongly suggest everyone on the team memorizes their IDC. In the event you are captured, or somehow left behi-"

"You won't be left behind." Jack interjected.

Sam tossed him an annoyed look. "Of course not. I meant that if you fall behind enemy lines, and your team is unable to retrieve you, your iris codes will be locked out, and you will not be able to return home. If the risk assesment comes back positive, a rescue team will be sent for you within 24 hours."

"In other words, nobody's going to get left in the hands of the snakeheads. We'll come back for you. That said, nobody here is going to get captured, tortured, or killed, because then you're just ruining it for the rest of us. Understood?"

A ripple of 'yes sirs' echoed across the room.

"We ship out at 0900 Earth time. Dismissed." Sam nodded to the teams.

Everyone made their excuses and hurried off, each having a million things to prepare before departure. Only the two Colonels remained in the room.

"Snakeheads?" Sam asked, with the beginnings of a smile. Jack stood up and sauntered towards her, allowing her, for the first time, to get a full blown effect of the uniform. Definitely a far cry from thedishevelled man she'd met yesterday... though, seeing him wearing nothing but faded jeans hadn't exactly been a turn off either. Had the situation been different, then she might have had a very opposite reaction than the one he'd seen. Fortunately, he was Air Force too, which meant that she didn't have to ponder the possibility... or **im**possibility of the issue.

"What? Too much with the name-calling?"

"No... no, fairly accurate considering the intel we got from our last mission. See, the Goa'uld parasites actually burrow their way through the spinal-"

"Lunch!"

"What?"

"I'm starving, and Daniel just ran off without me, bastard. Wanna get lunch before we leave?"

"Uh... no. I've got work to do."

"What, a guy mistakes you for a hooker, and suddenly he's not good enough to eat with?"

"You really want me to answer that?"

"I guess not. Look, about yesterday..."

"Never happened. Forget about it." she said, gathering her documents into a neat- painfully organized- pile.

"Really? Wow, if you were my ex-wife we'd probably still be together."

"I think _widow_ is more accuracte, seeing has how I'd have shot you a long time ago."

"Trying to apologize here."

"No need to, we're military. There's _'you screwed up, move on'_ and there's _'you screwed up, now you're dead'_. There's no room for apologies."

Jack frowned. It was hard to believe someone like her could be more hardened on the inside than she was on the outside. For a moment he wondered what made her the way she was, but that was getting into emotional territory that he knew he didn't want to dwell on.

"Well I don't work that way Carter. Now I need us to be on the same team here, or else we might as well scrub the mission right now. Are we good?"

"Relax Colonel. I'll follow orders and do my duty, and if it makes you feel better, I'll be more civil. Happy?"

"Exuding with glee, yes, thank you.."

She nodded, forced a smile, then turned, leaving him to his own devices.

"Deja vu," he muttered to himself. At least she hadn't hit him this time.

-----------------------------

So, verdict?


	4. Chapter 4

I'm tickled at all the reviews, thank you! -hugs-

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Jack's vision was bleary at best, but what he lacked in sight was made up for by the most rancid smell he'd ever had the misfortune of encountering. He groaned, turning on his back— apparently not such a great idea because he swore he heard something crack.

"Alpha six, this is team leader Alpha-one-niner, do you read me?" he grunted into his radio instinctively, not trusting himself to move yet.

"I repeat, this O'Neill, can you read me? Kawalsky, come in, dammit!"

Nothing.

He sighed in frustration, forcing his eyes to get used to the surrounding darkness. There were voices, strange accents speaking in languages he didn't recognize... which wasn't saying much. Whoever they were, they were avoiding him, which was probably a good thing since he wasn't up to making small talk with fellow inmates just yet. Yes… inmates, as in prison. Now _that _he could infer from the smell— but what the hell had happened?

Gunfire.

That was the last thing he remembered. Kawalsky's team had taken a hit, so SG1 had split up and double backed way before they'd ever reached first position around the enemy base. Lucky them, they'd made it here anyway...

Then he remembered.

"Shit. Daniel… Daniel, you in here!" he called into the musky darkness. A few of the people stared at him wide-eyed, moving away.

"Charming the locals already," he muttered under his breath, turning to his side, and pushing himself up from the frigid dirt floor.

So much for the great O'Neill plan, it had pretty much gone to hell all the way. Those clunky metal wearing morons taken him and Daniel in the process, but at least it had bought Kawalsky's team enough time to get away, and that had been worth it. Hopefully they'd return to the SGC with Carter, assuming she was still alive… she'd gone down with a blast to her chest. _That_ he remembered with frightening clarity.

"Jack! Thank God you're here!" A flustered Archaeologist blundered into his path. Jack couldn't have been more relieved.

"Oh... I'll be waiting for my get-out-of-jail-free card before thanking the big guy for anything. Good to see you've kept yourself alive, Danny."

"It's pretty easy to do when you're unconscious and nobody's paying attention to you. God my head hurts… and I'm slightly high strung at the moment. Why do I feel like throwing myself into a wall?"

"Adrenalin, it'll pass."

"When?"

" Normal people, about one or two hours, you I'm guessing three or four… days. Assuming we don't have another close encounter with those fucking Jedi."

" Jaffa."

"Right, them. Have you been able to contact anyone?" Jack asked.

"No… but that could just mean they're out of range, right? Maybe my radio's damaged. Or maybe they went back through the Stargate… have you seen Sam? She's around here somewhere. I haven't found her yet. I haven't found Sha're yet either, but I'm pretty sure they're both in here somewhere" Daniel rambled, panting slightly from anxiety more than exertion.

"Don't worry about Carter. Last I saw, Kawalsky was helping her. She's probably tucked in the infirmary right now getting an ass full of needles."

"No- Jack, I saw the Jaffa take her too, right after they knocked you out. She wasn't moving… at all." Daniel said, suddenly looking ill.

Jack let the words sink in, realization blowing over him like a freezing gust of air. He nodded, "If that's true, she's dead. Even if she survived the staff blast to the chest, no way she could have lasted this long if she was brought here."

"W-what?"

"You heard me. Now, do you have a GDO?"

"How can you ask me that! Sam's dead— do something!"

"Well sorry Daniel, they didn't cover reincarnation in boot camp, so there's nothing I can do for her. Let it go, I need you to think straight here." Jack ordered the other man who clearly wasn't military. "Now, c'mon, do you have a GDO? Sidearm? Grenade? Really sharp stick? I'm pretty flexible at this point."

"NO Jack! I'm going to find Sam and Sha're— you do whatever the hell you want to." Daniel snapped, disappearing into the small crowd again.

Jack let him go. It wasn't as if there was anywhere** to** go… but it was best that Daniel didn't find Carter first. The young man had certainly grown a lot during his time on Abydos, but he didn't need to see something like this.

"Hey… Jack O'Neill, Earth, nice to meet you, get out of the way," he said by way of introduction to the various onlookers staring at him.

It hadn't taken him long to find the other colonel— he knew where to look from experience. Valuables would have been scavenged and the body would have been tossed in one of the corners. Somehow they always ended up in corners. He froze for a moment when he saw her, lying on her side like she was merely asleep. The tufts of blonde hair sticking out in all directions might have been charming had she not been lying at an odd angle.

Jack knelt on the dirt ground, just watching her. He knew he had to check her over eventually, but he needed a minute of denial. The bright colored pool of blood she'd been lying in wasn't helping, only added to the reality he knew. What he hated, _really _hated, was the fact that he'd never be able to return her to Earth, not with the state they were in. She'd be left here once they made their escape. He realized offhandedly that he didn't even know anything about her, if he'd have to help make up a story about her death and explain it to someone she'd left behind. Family.

Reaching out and touching her shoulder, he turned her over, ignoring the red stains down her entire length. As broken as she looked, her face retained a pale glow, chances are she hadn't been dead for long. Had he gotten her back to the SGC, she might have had a chance.

He felt sick... then angry... then ridiculously furious at the woman he barely knew.

"Thanks a _bunch_ Carter, like I didn't have enough guilt in my life already, now I have to deal with allowing you to die. The General will have my ass for this you know... people like _you_ aren't meant to go down like this. You're supposed to go home to your lawyer boyfriend, get married, spawn incredibly intelligent babies, and save the world every Wednesday. For what it's worth, I'm sorry I wasn't watching your back," he muttered under his breath, a little harshly.

The moment gone, he shook himself back into reality, then unstrapped the GDO from her wrist , attaching it to his own. Then he did what he'd done for countless fallen soldiers he'd served with, carefully reaching in to feel for her silver dog tags. They still retained a certain luster, he had no doubt she'd kept the thin plates in fine condition after each mission.

He eased the silver chain up gently and-

"Aahhrgh!"

Jack did a manly version of a scream before wrenching himself back and falling hard on his butt. He cradled his hand wearing a horrified look, but broke out in a fantastic grin nevertheless.

"O'Neill- what the hell, you scared the _shit_ out of me!" Sam snapped, rolling onto her knees and pushing herself up from the floor. She dusted her hands and glared at him.

"I scared _you_? You bit me! You're supposed to be dead!" Jack laughed incredulous, his heart lurching to his throat.

"Well sorry to disappoint. Were you even going to **check **before you ran off with my tags?" she asked accusingly, snatching her beloved dog tags back and placing them around her neck again, alomst reverently.

"I-I saw you go down after we reached Kawalsky, I thought you were dead _then_." Jack said apprehensively, "Daniel told me they'd brought you here— how are you not dead Carter!" 

Instinctively, he reached out a hand to her face smearing away the red tracks, only to find a flawless and unbroken skin beneath his palm. He pulled back in confusion.

Sam looked up at him with wide eyes, then glanced down at herself.

Jack knew the signs well, and grasped her arm to steady her.

"Hey- you're okay," he said reassuringly.

"No… I'm not. I remember now, being shot. Why aren't I dead? There's too much blood, I- I have to get this off me."

She wrenched off her jacket, which was drying stiff already.

"Whoa!" Jack exclaimed, seeing a gaping hole in her shirt, distinctly the shape of a circle. The tattered jacket had concealed it before, but now there was no mistaking what he saw.

"Holy Hannah," Sam murmured in surprise.

Tentatively, she slid her hand down her body, her fingers lightly brushing over her torso before growing bolder and testing the new skin. The hollow fear and panic now replaced by a childlike curiosity lighting her eyes. There wasn't even a scratch.

Jack simply stared for a minute... well, maybe it was closer to two minutes. She hardly noticed he was there as she made small gasps of amazement, touching herself in ways that he felt were definitely inappropriate to do in public.

"Carter! As much as I enjoy watching you fondle yourself—"

"Feel this, isn't it incredible?" Sam said in awe, reaching for his hand and pressing it flat against her navel as she interlaced her fingers with his, continuing their now joint exploration.

Jack went slack jawed for a split second before clamping his mouth shut in a way that he sure had cracked his teeth.

"Do you have_ any_ idea how advanced this technology is O'Neill? I mean I read Doctor Jackson's report on the sarcophagus, but I never _dreamed_ it would have this sort of regenerative capabilities. I'm guessing that's what they used on me, at least. If we could get our hands on this machine it could revolutionize our approach to modern medicine! I mean, I couldn't have been in there for more than two hours, and my skin's perfect, it's so soft and warm and- hey... what's wrong?"

"Nothing! Everything's peachy. Can I have my hand back now? My other one's getting lonely." Jack explained, thankful that his brain somehow managed the return journey back up to his head.

"Uh- sorry. Shit, I can't walk around like this," she said, abruptly realizing she was less than fully clothed, what with the giant hole and all. She turned back to her sodden jacket, but shuddered and looked away. "Don't suppose you have a spare shirt?" she asked blandly.

"Of course I do. It's right next to the spare toothbrush in the spare backpack, carried by the spare SG team that's about to rescue us any spare second now."

"Thank you Captain Sarcasm. As usual, you have proved yourself completely useless."

"That's Colonel Sarcasm to you."

"Give me your jacket."

"What- no! Do you know how long it took me to get the, to sew my rank onto this thing? Before it just said 'O'Neill', and how boring is that? I mean really, if it doesn't say Colonel on the uniform, then you might as well-"

"Jacket. Please."

He sighed, muttering something about _women _under his breath as he removed his jacket and tossed it at her.

"Where's Daniel? Kawalsky's team?" she asked, putting it on and rolling up the sleeves. She didn't need to wait for an answer.

"SAM! Jack- you found her, I knew she wasn't dead! Sam, Jack thought you were dead, but I told him you weren't Sam. Jack… Sam… God, I'm relieved you're both okay. I may throw up again." The Archaeologist reappeared, his nerves so edgy that the Colonels barely noticed the exotic young woman holding onto his arm.

"Deep breaths Daniel, I'm glad to see you're alive too… and I see you found what you were looking for?" Sam asked, grinning reassuringly, but keeping a safe distance in case he made good on that vomiting deal.

"Yes- I found Sha're, well, she found me rather, while I was looking for you. I mentioned that already- didn't I mention that? We've been talking to these people, but they're uncooperative, scared, they haven't been here long either. Sha're's helping me communicate with them-"

"DANIEL!" Jack snapped, "You're talking too fast. Slow down or shut up. Sha're, pleasure as always, I don't suppose you know a way out of here?"

She shook her head.

Jack sighed, glancing around the enclosure again, before meeting Carter's eyes. They had had a silent understanding of how mutually fucked they were at this point.

"Sha're," Sam spoke gently, "Can you tell us exactly what happened to you? Why you were taken in the first place?"

"How would she know? She was kidnapped!" Daniel replied almost defensively.

Jack rolled his eyes, "Something isn't adding up here kids. Sorry to point out the obvious, but these people aren't all from here. They're not speaking the same gibberish as each other or wearing remotely similar clothing... and don't tell me you haven't noticed how nobody's particularly... bad looking. It's liked they were selected, and brought here."

Sam and Daniel turned to him, clearly surprised.

"What? I have my perceptive moments!" Jack shrugged, then noticed Daniel was visibly paling.

"Oh, God..." Daniel murmured, "You don't think..."

"Think? No, that's your job. I'm just observing... so what did we just figure out?"

"The choosing, Jack. Of the Gods."

"They're choosing Gods?"

"No, the Gods are choosing."

"What Gods?"

"The Goa'uld!"

"The Goa'uld have Gods?"

"No, Jack, just..."

"Hey! Looks like something's up," Sam cut in.

The heavy doors ground open, revealing a Jaffa. Jack didn't recognize him from the attack, but he was a big guy. He had with him a young woman, who he tossed to the floor carelessly. She was clearly dead— then again, Jack was having an off day with the whole dead/alive thing, so he wouldn't put any money on the observation.

Suddenly, Sha're was trailblazing foreign words with a speed that rivaled Daniel's outburst a moment ago. She reverted to English once he'd calmed her. "Danyel- I too was taken, but the Goddess rejected me. That is why I was returned to be among these people. Please, you cannot allow her be taken also." Share explained anxiously to her husband.

"What?" Sam and Jack asked at the same time.

"From what I understand, the Goa'uld use humans as... uh... hosts, we knew that already. Um, apparently we've been added into the pool of potentials." Daniel stated.

"Lucky us," Jack sighed. "Now was there a 'good news' part to this story, or was this yet another fun fact from the book of things-I-don't-want-to know?"

"Well… they obviously only want the attractive hosts. So Jack, you're in the clear," the younger man said amused.

"Daniel! Point?"

"Well, uh... they're looking for hosts, and they've been through most of these people already. Right now, our problem is Sam."

What? Me?" She asked confused.

"Well yes, from what I can ascertain, it's a female host they require, and well Sam, you're what some may call uh…" Daniel blushed, "Well… you're… sort of…"

"You're a fox." Jack finished off for him.

"What?" Sam blinked.

"You're hot Carter. Sex on a stick and all that. I mean, if you're into the whole tall blonde look of course, which is so outdated these days, but then again these Goa'uld _are_ reliving ancient Egypt in their heads so there's a chance they'll choose your lovely head as a new fishing bowl to swim around in. Trust me, I have a sixth sense about these things, and I can sense trouble." Jack explained thoroughly.

"Look, I know you two must find this situation highly amusing, but this is hardly something to joke about!" Sam frowned, "Now I suggest we set up an ambush at the next change of guards. Maybe some of these people will help with the escape if we convince them of minimal casualty-"

"KREE!"

Collectively, they turned to the Jaffa _right _behind them.

"Excellent sixth sense O'Neill, really something to write home about," Sam scowled, thoroughly pissed at being taken by surprise.

"Hey— do I just automatically get blamed for everything that happ-"

"KREE!" He yelled directly at Sam this time.

"What! I don't know what that means!" she shot back, raising her hands in the universal sign of please-don't-kill-me-you-stupid-twit.

"Daniel, what the hell does it want?" Jack prodded impatiently, trying to maneuver his way closer to Sam.

"I... I don't know... kree... a greeting, maybe...?"

"Aghh-!"

The Jaffa struck the end of his staff into Sam's torso, Jack barely caught her downfall, easing her to the ground.

"Whoa! Hey, buddy, your mother ever teach you how to treat a woman, or does the drooling idiot trait run in the famil-"

"Desist!" the guard snapped, activating his staff weapon and pointing in Jack's face.

"Thanks, but I'm straight. Honestly do you guys have any weapons that _don't_ look like a giant penises? Don't get me started on those electro hand gun things, it's like you're trying to make up for somethi-"

"SILENCE!"

"Silence. Fine, shutting up now. Nice 'greeting' theory by the way Daniel." Jack muttered.

"You have healed well. I did not think you would survive, but the power of the Gods is strong." the Jaffa told Sam haughtily, as she recovered her bearings and rose to her feet.

"Oh I don't know about that… my guess is that the 'power' comes from a crystalline matrix structure similar to the one that powers the DHD. Your technology is really quite redundant. Of course, you probably don't know much about that. What do you want?"

"You owe me your gratitude, woman! I retrieved you from the battlefield in order to present to my Goddess as a possible host. You shall bow down to her and if you are found worthy, she will enter your body and cause you unimaginable pain before destroying what is left of your mind."

"Well, fuck you too."

"This insolence will not do. While your beauty is acceptable, you are unkempt; perhaps I shall take you now and teach you how to behave before a God..."

"What? Beauty? Her?" Jack snorted, "C'mon, I'm sure the queen snake could do better than _Carter_ here... I mean look at her. She's all pasty and white, and don't get me started on her hair— what little she has I mean. It's such a putrid yellow color- not the kinda thing to see on a Goddess I'm telling you. Have I mentioned the figure? Way too tall, wouldn't you say? The hourglass look just doesn't work—"

"Silence!" the Jaffa snapped again, striking Jack with the back of his hand.

"A slap?" Jack asked incredulous, "Carter gets a staff in the gut and all I get is a _slap_?"

The Jaffa, more than willing to comply, dug the staff up under the man's ribs, and watched the man fall to the ground with a strangled moan.

"When the time comes, I will summon you." He said to Sam simply, returning to his post.

"Okay, Carter, I distinctly remember breaking your fall when _you_ got hit!" Jack complained, as Daniel clumsily helped him off the ground.

"Yeah, well, you had it coming Colonel," Sam said with a flare of anger, "What the hell was that about? You know he wouldn't have killed me, not when he needed me, but you were completely expendable!"

"It worked, didn't it? He didn't take you with him."

"I'm not debating the outcome- I'm stating that your methods were irresponsible and careless! Who would have been there to get Daniel and Sha're out if we'd _both _been neutralized. Do you even consider these things before you speak?"

"I wasn't that bad…"

"You insulted his mother and his dick in the same breath!"

"Liked that, did you?"

"God- what's_ wrong_ with you!" Sam yelled in frustration, grabbing fistfulls of his shirt by on his chest and giving him a good shake. It would have worked out much better if he hadn't been so tall.

"What the hell are you getting so worked up about? I was doing the classic 'deflect-attention-from-your-teammate' routine, and taking the heat off **you**!" he countered, grabbing the lapels of her jacket- his jacket, really- and returning the angered gesture.

"Well get it through your head that I don't need you to use your _stupid _remarks to help me out of any situation!"

"Don't worry about it! Next time I'll just **let **them haul you away so you can get raped, molested, and turned into a hostess!"

"Host!"

"Whatever!"

"You know what your problem is O'Neill!"

"What Carter? What's my problem? Please tell me, because you seem to have ALL the answers these days!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I'm tired of your insubordination!"

"_Insubordination_? You have no right to call me on that, we're both Colonels here, or did you conveniently forget that fact?"

"How could I when I have YOU reminding me of it every five seconds— honestly, if you're that insecure about your rank then maybe you don't deserve it!"

"And I suppose you do? You practically get _handed_ a promotion every time you return from a suicide mission-"

"Uh, Guys...?"

"**WHAT**?" Sam and Jack growled simultaneously, not breaking their mutual glare of death.

"I think maybe I've found us a way out of here," Daniel said, grinning, "SG1, meet Teal'c…"

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Hey, what you call arguing, I call misplaced sexual tension… -grin- So thoughts? 


	5. Chapter 5

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AN: Thank you for the feedback, I really appreciate it!

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**Chapter 5**

There was a brief, yet thick silence.

"Look- he even managed to get back one of our bags," Daniel said awkwardly, handing it over to Sam who shook off her dumbstuck look and crouched down beside the pack to begin an inventory..

"Daniel... he's a Jaffa," Jack whispered harshly out the corner of his mouth.

"Yes Jack... I had realized that. But Teal'c said he was willing to help us," the archaeologist huffed.

Jack looked to Sam, searchingly. She nodded, indicating the bag was clean... this probably wasn't a trick. Efficiently, she bagan tucking a few immediate supplies into her BDUs.

"Colonel O'Neill, SGC, thrilled to meet you," he said.

"I am Teal'c of Chulak, first prime to the false God Apophis," the baritone voice clarified, "You wish for freedom, as do those among you?"

"Well, yes… forgive my curiosity, but why exactly are you willing to help us?" Jack questioned.

" I am among the few rebel Jaffa within the forces of the Goa'uld. I will aid in your escape, thereby revealing my betrayal. It is the only way for you and these people to live."

"Okay… I have no idea what you're talking about, but I heard the word 'escape'. So when would we be expecting one of those?"

"The hour comes soon, you will know when to fight."

"Wait a second," Jack cut in before the Jaffa could turn to leave, "The other guy, big, bad breath, he said he wanted one of us for the _choosing_. So how soon are we talking here?"

"The strike will take place after the choosing. Only then will Apophis's private guard be removed from this chamber, allowing us the opportunity to overwhelm his forces. I will do all I can, but I cannot ensure your safety beyond these walls. You must not allow allow the woman to be taken before then."

"The name's Sam," she clarified, getting to her feet, "And thank you, we appreciate your help."

The Jaffa tilted his head to her, then turned to leave.

"Well, you know how to make friends Danny boy. At least nobody got shot this time," Jack smirked as his younger friend visibly puffed.

"No P90s, they obviously got rid of those. We've got seven grenades, one sidearm with three extra rounds and a M14 Bayonett. Very nice." Sam stated, studying the blade.

"Hey, careful with that, it's a classic," Jack said, taking the weapon from her and slipping it into his combat boots, concealing it sufficiently, "You should take the sidearm, Carter."

"You take it. I'm guessing you'll need it more."

"Fine. I'm probably a better shot than you anyway." Jack shrugged.

Sam's eyes narrowed as she holstered the gun around her leg, and tossed him a couple grenades instead.

Jack barely concealed a grin.

"Uh… Sha're is busy talking to the people, trying to calm them down. She and I will just…stay out of the way so you two can do your thing," Daniel interrupted, wide eyed at his two friends who looked like they were preparing themselves for war. Which may as well have been true.

"Daniel, if you're going to be a permanent member of SG1, we're going to need to give you a few combat training lessons sooner or later. Take this, it's a grenade. Contains a smiple chemical explosive, all you've got to do is pull the the pin and throw, while accounting for a four second delay for the ignited fuse," she said pushing the small round grenade into her friend's chest.

"Okay, I can do that. What's a pin? This thing?"

"For cryin' out loud Danial don't TUG on it!" Jack snapped, relieving him of the weapon, "Carter, you can give him all the toys he wants to play with when you start training your team. Not now."

"Shockingly, I may agree with you," she said, hiding a smile, "You boys have fun. I'm going to go blend in so when the queen's Jaffa returns he'll have some trouble finding me and dragging me off."

"Nobody's dragging anyone off!" Jack said, disgruntled, "Teal'c said he'd give us a hand, we just have to keep you out of the limelight until the choosing is over."

"Well obviously we have to cover her up," Daniel frowned, "Maybe we can find some sort of a veil or something?"

"A_ veil_?" Sam snorted in disgust, "The last time I wore one of those… well, the story didn't have a happy ending."

"She's right. Something like that is only going draw attention to her. Let's work with what we've got," Jack stated, making a quick decision.

He took off his cap and pulled roughly over Sam golden wisps of hair, almost to the bridge of her nose. Anything to cover those ridiculously huge blue eyes, blinking at him indignantly.

" It's my lucky hat. Lose it and I'll shoot you, Carter."

She snorted, adjusting it slightly over her ears.

"Well? Is this good enough."

"You're not Clark Kent, this is going to take a little more than glasses and hair gel," he muttered, crossing his arms and studying her thoughtfully, "Why do you have to look so... female?"

"I'm too tired to think of a witty and condescending response to that."

"Do up the jacket all the way," he ordered.

"It's like a hundred degrees in here!"

"Do it..."

"Fine! There. Done."

If anything the jacket pronounced her curves even more, loosely hugging all the right places.

"Dammit Carter it's your... chest. Can't you just... hold it in or something?"

Sam's eyebrows shot up, "I don't know about the women you've been with O'Neill, but _my_ breasts aren't retractable. Ah, there it is. Witty _and_ condescending."

"Right, of course. Wait, one last thing," he said, crouching to the ground before coming back up again.

"What more could you possibly have to- aaargh!"

Cold.

Whatever else she was feeling at that moment was all at once drowned out by the slick cool wetness that was rudely slapped against her face. She froze, too shocked to do much else as two hands diligently worked the grainy muck into every crevice of her features.

"O'NEILL!" she barely refrained from screeching, not wanting to draw any more attention. Instead, her fingers locked onto his wrist, trying to wrench them away from her, but he only held tighter, backing her into one of the rough stone columns of the chamber.

"Ah! Doing this for your own good Colonel." Jack stated, as he maneuvered his knee between her legs to stop her from making any more moves that would have put them both in an uncomfortable position. He took the opportunity to round the mud down the soft curve of her neck, forcing her body into an involuntary shudder as the wetness glided down the back of her black t-shirt.

Her hands clenched his wrists tighter, digging her nails in, but she stopped struggling against him as he gently rounded the black muck around the shell of her ear and down her jaw line. Sam inherently knew he was enjoying this a little too much, but yielded to his plan, knowing a stupid idea was better than nothing at all.

"All done. Trust me, nobody's gonna pick you ouuta a crowd, unless it's by smell of course." he grinned, pushing away from her and not daring to speculate what was in that gunk he'd just smothered her in.

"Thanks. I guess," she sighed as she felt his body release hers. He grinned at her wiping off his own hands on on his own BDUs.

"KREE!"

"Oh for cryin' out loud, do they not know any other word?" Jack muttered as the prison doors slid open, "Carter, go," he ordered the woman beside him who was already moving in the opposite direction.

"What- Jack, where's she heading?" Daniel asked going after her, only to be stopped by a firm arm.

"We have to split up, less chance of that Jaffa recognizing her this way." Jack explained briefly.

There was an angered string of foreign words, uttered by the Goa'uld—by the look on Sha're's face, that had to be Apophis. With him was an entourage of Goa'uld and Jaffa, who had lined up the people for inspection.

Sam was on the other side of the passage. Jack had followed her with his eyes through the crowd of frightened people. She was really on her own in this one, but at least she had her sidearm if all things went to hell. Jack held his breath as he recognized the queen's Jaffa. There was no doubt that he was searching for her. True to his word, Teal'c managed to intercept him before he enclosed on Sam. Jack couldn't surmise the topic of the heated conversation, but drew a breath of relief as the Jaffa turned on heel and stalked out of the chamber, clearly pissed. Teal'c stood with a small smile.

Thankfully, one whiff of Carter was enough for any other Jaffa or Goa'uld to take the long way around just to avoid her. It was all Jack could do not to chuckle. His relief, however, was short lived when the Jaffa took another woman instead. Tall, blonde, and definitely scared out of her wits.

He saw Sam stiffen immediately, her hand slipping into her BDUs, and he knew she was grasping for her sidearm.

"Don't do it Carter…" Jack said under his breath, his eyes burning into the back of her head. She turned back to him. It was the first time he'd ever seen her look to him for help. He shook his head shortly, and she just barely nodded in reply. He almost flinched at the storm brewing in her eyes, but he knew it wasn't directed at him. They both realized an early strike would leave them all dead.

"The choosing is complete! There is no more potential here," Teal'c bowed low to Apophis once the other Goa'uld and their Jaffa escort had made their final rounds.

"Very well… Kill the rest." Apophis ordered impassively, his attendants and guards leaving along with him.

Jack's eyes widened as a general panic elevated around him.

"Keep your heads down!" He managed to tell Daniel and Sha're before getting shoved over to the side as people started scrambling around him.

He pulled himself up, and fought his way in the opposite direction of the crowd. Frenzied bodies were slamming into each other, desperately trying to get away from the advancing Jaffa. There was only one other person fighting to do the opposite, and within seconds he'd caught up to her.

"Uh... ideas Carter?" Jack panted slightly.

"Sure thing O'Neill. I'll take the one on the left, you take the eight on the right." She said, though her tone contained a slight tremor.

They held their breath in unison, waiting, hoping for some sort of a signal to attack. Timing would be imperitive in this case. Without warning, Teal'c turned on the other Jaffa just before a slaughter could begin.

"Good luck," Sam said, not waiting for an invitation to fight before throwing herself at the nearest serpent guard.

Clearly half the size of her antagonist, she was knocked back onto the hard ground, but she'd been ready for it. Rolling over the cobble stone, she absorbed the brunt of the impact and was on her feet a moment later.

Unaffected, the Jaffa raised his staff weapon; Sam barely lunged out of the way of the blast that had ripped open a small hole in the stone walls behind her. With practiced accuracy, she crouched low, drew her sidearm, and shot the Jaffa twice in the gut. She was on him again before he'd even touched the ground, and exchanged blows long enough to grab his staff; his metal clad foot shot out and struck her to the side as she did.. Slightly winded, she felt a searing pain in the back of her neck, defnitely having just wrenched it. She shook off the sensation, and got to her feet, knocking her opponent unconscious with his own weapon.

Sam glanced to the side of the chamber, thinking rapidly as she saw how the Jaffa's blast had damaged the wall. The staff weapon was long, and cumbersome in her hands, clearly impractical for her use in a fight, but maybe…

"Get out the way!" Jack yelled accross the chamber.

Sam turned to see him rip off the pin of the grenade and hurl it at the small hole in the wall. She was pleased to see that they were on the same wavelength. Carefully, she positioned the staff weapon as best she could, and followed the explosion with two more blasts. The hole in the wall was now an escape route.

"Come on, this way!" Daniel urged the panicking people through the opening.

"Nice work, O'Neill. Was that all of them?" she asked, jogging up to the other colonel and tossing the staff weapon to him.

"Yep. You got one. I got one. Teal'c got… seven. We owe you a beer T!" Jack hollered, barely.

"Hey, you okay?" Sam asked,

"Peachy. Teal'c, what kind of forces should we be expecting?" Jack asked.

"We have only detained the Goa'uld's personal guard momentarily. They will soon return with dozens more, perhaps even Death Gliders... combat vessels," the rebel Jaffa said somberly.

"I don't think I want to stick around for that. Let's get moving," Sam said, going to help Daniel usher people through the exit.

"Do you know the way to the Stargate from here?" Jack asked once Sam was out of earshot. He let the staff weapon slip from his fingers, clattering to the ground.

"I do."

"Think you can lead these people the rest of the way?"

"I can, and I am prepared to die if necessary."

"Well... try not to, or you'll never get that beer. Now go." Jack said, backing away and leaning against the wall heavily.

The Jaffa looked down at the man before him, who was clutching his side. Teal'c, who understood immediately, nodded his head, "I will not fail you in this," he stated before following the rest to safety.

"O'Neill! Move it!" Sam yelled from the opening, as the last stragglers came through.

"Right behind you Colonel. Go!" Jack called in reply.

Sam turned to run, then skidded abruptly to a halt when she heard a dull thud and a moan behind her.

"Right behind me, huh?" she smirked down at Jack who lay on the ground at her feet, clearly in pain.

"Dammit- I said GO!" he snapped as he felt small hands roaming over his body, pulling up his shirt.

"Please… tell me that isn't your precious bayonet sticking out of your rib cage?" Sam could barely contain her chuckle as she ripped off her jacket and pressed it to his side to slow the bleeding, "Should I even ask how this happened?"

"Well I didn't do it to myself! Right before I blew the Jaffa's head off, the idiot lunged at me and I fell onto my- argghh!"

Jack cried out at the excruciating fire that ripped through his chest as Sam slipped the blade from his body in one clean stroke.

"God- I'm sorry. They always hurt more coming out than going in. You wouldn't have been able to run with it still in you." She said, looking, to her credit, a little apologetic.

"Could you have at least _warned_ me?" Jack growled.

"You know that only makes it worse. Can you stand?"

"Of course I CAN'T stand! I'm ORDERING you to get the hell out of—"

He barely suppressed a groan as Carter dragged him up, throwing one of his arms around her shoulders and clutching her arm around his waist.

"Carter, don't." He resisted, "I'm not going to make it to the gate like this, you're just going to get the both of us killed, and—"

"Shut up and run, will you!"

The determination in her eyes undid him; there was nothing else he could do except nod, and for once, follow her lead. _Running_ may have been too extreme a word of course. Sam was drawing on adrenaline she didn't have, her head pounding, and Jack was focusing on not passing out. Their pace was unsteady, but they were at least making progress.

"Wait. Stop." she said as they reached the treeline. "Shit."

"What?" Jack asked, but was't given an explanation. Sam veered him off the trail, throwing them both into the underbrush, ending up sprawled at his side.

"AGH! Carter what the fucmff--"

Jack was cut off as Sam leaned over him, one hand covering his lips and smothering his words, the other splayed firmly over his chest and holding him down.

_'Jaffa'_ she mouthed.

Jack almost laughed at how much the jolt had hurt, but he was pretty certain Carter would kick his ass if he made a sound. She was breathing harshly against his ear, holding them both still. Her body was so wired he thought she'd snap.

Then he heard what she'd anticipated. The mettalic thudding of Jaffa. Six or seven... no more than ten. It was hard to tell. Sam and Jack didn't move until well after the sounds had disappeared.

Simultaneously, they both realeased a tension-filled breath.

"Wow Carter... you smell _fantastic_."

To his utter satisfaction, she blushed hotly, rolling off him.

"You do realize that we're too late, we're never going to be able to catch up to the rest of them," she said in defeat.

"Carter, I know you know other paths back to the Gate. Leave me. You can double back then circumvent the Jaffa, and meet up with Daniel and Teal'c. Kawalsky won't have left without us, so he could... are you even listening to me! You know you've got to go!"

"Oh you'd **love** that wouldn't you?" Sam asked, mentally counting the remaining shots she had left as she loaded a new clip into her sidearm, "You really do want to die the tragic hero who sacrificed his life for the good of the team. Can you imagine the shit I'd be in if I went back to the SGC and told them I'd left their favourite flyboy to die? I bet you'd like that."

"Ah, you've foiled my evil plan. I stabbed myself with my own bayonet just to make **you** look bad."

"Quiet! I'm thinking!"

"Hey- need I remind you which one of us has the more experienced tactical mind here?"

"Yeah, well you've also lost more blood in the last half hour than I did in the 80s, so forgive me if I don't trust your judgment right now," She muttered, "If I helped you up again, do you think we could pick up the pace?"

"I'd like to Carter, but I think I left my liver back there."

" You don't need your liver to walk, and you've survived worse. I've read you file."

"My file's classified," he countered, hating how she had to drag him up onto his feet again.

"Yeah, so?"

"You read classified information? Colonel- you're full of surprises. Here I thought you were a stickler for the regs."

"Yeah, well I usually am. Can't say the same about you though- okay, first step, here we go, watch that rock."

"Never said I was a saint." Jack snapped, tripping over the rock anyway, causing Sam's knees to buckle.

Her slip sent them both back down hard.

Jack rolled onto his back, breathing in painful breaths, screwing his eyes shut.

Sam was beside him a moment later.

"Shit. Shouldn't have pushed you into moving."

"Ya think!"

"Look, it's a simple flesh wound, and you're not bleeding as freely now," Sam told him, holding the jacket to his side and hearing him hiss.

"Still hurts like hell," he said, blinking his eyes open to meet the huge blue ones staring down at him.

"I'm so sorry," she said in a tone he hadn't thought her capable of. Jack's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Oh yes… because this whole thing was all **your** fault."

She said nothing.

"Sarcasm, Carter! You know that thing we've been doing ever since we met each other…Carter… HEY! This isn't your fault, I'm the one who's immobile."

"And I'm the one who can't find a way to help you."

"Well if the situation was reversed, I couldn't have helped you either."

"Oh please… the legendary Jack O'Neill? I bet you'd have used your super powers to take out all the Jaffa from here to the Gate, then you'd have just_ carried_ me all the way back without breaking a sweat."

"Hey, the super powers are reserved for_ actual _emergencies... and I would have totally broken a sweat if I'd had to haul you around."

Sam released a small laugh, much to Jack's relief.

"Fine, not feeling guilty any more. Besides, the reversal scenario is inherently flawed since I would never get myself stabbed by my own bayonet. Here, drink." She ordered, retirieving a small field bottle from her BDUs, mentally patting herself on the back for bringing it along.

Jack didn't need to be told twice, taking a quick drink before handing it back to her. She took it from him distractedly screwing the cap back on and tossing it to the ground.

"Kawalsky and SG2 would have helped 'em through the Gate by now. The Jaffa wouldn't have caught up that quickly." he said.

Sam looked up at him, annoyed that he'd known where her thoughts had been, but she said nothing. Patting down her BDU's, she found a gum wrapper, three paper clips, and half a pack of pain meds. Her head throbbed steadily, but she certainly wasn't going to waste the medication on a simple headache.

"As much as I hate to do this, keep talking to me O'Neill. The longer you stay awake, the better the indication that you'll live." she said, handing him some pills.

"Shouldn't we be conserving our energy," Jack swallowed them dry as Sam leaned him up against the boulder behind them. She settled at his side, shoulders not quite touching.

"For what? For lack of a better term, we're sitting ducks here. Can't fall back, can't go through the 'Gate. We're going to have to wait out the Jaffa... they'll get bored eventually, leave behind a small contingent to guard the Stargate. We might be able tp over power them then."

"That's the best you've got?"

"Do you have a better suggestion?"

Jack sighed. "Fine. What do you want to talk about?"

"Tell me about life after your capture in the Middle East."

"Whatever happened to small talk?"

"Okay... so what's the weather like on your side of the dirt pile?"

"Good. Temperate side of balmy. Which reminds me..." he reached over and grabbed his hat from her head, dusting it slightly before returning it to its rightful place.

"C'mon... considering how things are shaping up, we're probably dead anyway. I promise your deep dark secrets will die with me. Now start talking. You'd be surprised, I have this annoying ability to make people spill their guts to me."

"Oh. I've got the gut spilling covered, thank you. Okay, where to begin. Well, after that botched mission, I was about ready to give up. Slipped into awonderful little period of clinical depression."

"Understandable, being the only one on your team left alive. So what brought you out of it?"

"Sara told me she was pregnant." Jack admitted.

"Wow."

"Exactly what I said."

"That's when you got married?"

"Yep, shotgun in every sense of the word. Her parents didn't want an illegitimate grandson."

"Well at least you tried."

"Yeah, the marriage was really great while it lasted... an entire week, actually."

"A _week_?"

"Let's just say we had a few insurmountable obstacles. Well, one big one actually. Don't ask."

"Gotcha. So you've got a son, right?"

Jack glanced down at her, surprised and a little annoyed, "Why do I get the feeling you know a hell of a lot more about me than I do about you, Carter?"

"I do my homework O'Neill. So what happened to your family?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"C'mon, who'm I gonna tell?"

"I lost my son."

"Shit. I'm sorry."

"What? Oh! No, not that. I mean I actually lost him. In the mall."

"Well did you _find_ him?"

"Yeah. Three hours later in a comic book store, right between Batman and the Avenger. Had security running around and everything, worst experience of my life. That's when it came apart for me and Sara. Before we'd both been taking care of him, but then she insisted on sole custody about the same time that the Air Force offered me a five year stint in Peru. So I left. Charlie deserved to grow up with a parent who wasn't on the special ops short list for suicude missions."

"Well please tell me you still see you see him?"

"First weekend of every month. Not that he enjoys it. He's a teenager now, we don't even speak the same language anymore. It's all about something called an Xbox."

"What's an Xbox?"

"I have no idea, but it sounds like some kind of a porn machine, doesn't it? Anyway, after a while we pretty much stopped talking at all. That worked for me at the beginning, I was still in the USAF, going on missions, I could use the _'sorry I missed your birthday, but Daddy was out defending his country'_ routine. After getting back from the first mission to Abydos, I realised I wanted to be a part of his life again, but I was little too late."

"My dad's a General in the Air Force. He also conveniently disappered for Christmases and birthdays."

"And you didn't resent him for it, right?"

"Are you kidding? I hated him for most of my teens."

"You're not helping."

"I'm your fellow USAF officer, not your shrink."

Sam leaned forewards, resting her forehead on her knees as the throbbing in her head increased slightly.

"What about you, Carter? Ever experienced the joys of marriage?" Jack asked.

"Three years. No kids, thank God."

"So what happened."

"Nothing. That was the problem."

"Male here, you'll have to translate."

"It's complicated..." she trailed off, "Sorry, my head's killing me."

"Oh now you're just trying to get outta talking about it!"

"No really... I wrenched something back there, and it's not doing any better," She said, reaching around the rear of her neck, only to feel something wet and sticky.

Jack leaned over, tugging down the back of her shirt.

"Ouch." he winced.

"What, is it bad?" she asked.

"How the hell are you not screaming in pain right now?" He asked, studying the dark horizontal slit just below her hairine.

"Doesn't really hurt."

"That's never a good sign. Make sure Fraiser checks it out when we get home," he said, briefly brushing his hand over her back in a comforting gesture.

She looked up at him with a small smile, turning away again quickly and curling her arms around her legs.

"You know, O'Neill... I know we haven't exactly gotten along... and I'll admit a small, very,_ very _small part of that is because of me. I just wasn't expecting someone like you. I'd braced myself to deal with a self righteous asshole, which you obviously aren't. Well, not completely anyway. I still think you need to be knocked down a few notches, but you're a good guy. Look, what I'm trying to say is that this command is going to benefit by having you around, and I wouldn't exactly be against the idea. Hammond's going to make you a proposition when we get back; I just thought you should know that I'll be backing his request for you to become a permanent fixture at the SGC. Don't say anything right now... I know it's a pretty big decision. Just, sleep on it..."

Sam trailed off at the sound of slow, deep masculine breathing.

"Okay, I didn't mean that literally... O'Neill? Hello...?"

There was nothing for it. The man had slipped into a blissful unconsciousness.

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Please Review :)  



	6. Chapter 6

Oi, excuse the fluff at the beginning...

Chapter 6

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"Just spectacular, didn't think someone her size could do that!" Kawalsky raved, gesturing wildly with his jello laden spoon.. 

"It was quite remarkable," Daniel grinned in agreement, propping himself beside an infirmary gurney.

"Really, we thought the two of you were dead, then she just waltzed through the Gate dragging you behind her, right Daniel?" The major continued.

"The airman in the Gate room were completely stunned."

"She's like... like... Wonder Woman."

"Cat Woman."

"Superwoman."

"It's Supergirl."

"Sam's no girl."

"She no superhero either!" Jack said, finally interrupting the gushing of his two friends as he shifted uncomfortably on the lumpy infirmary mattress.

They both looked up at him sheepishly

"Unless... you think she'd go for the catsuit?" Jack contemplated aloud.

"Damn, I'd like to see that." Kawalsky said in all seriousness.

"I doubt you airmen would get any work done if she did," snorted Daniel.

"Hey guys, you _do_ realize that sound travels in waves, and that I _can_ hear you!" A voice called from behind the partition.

All three froze, and had the decency to look slightly embarrassed when Sam pulled aside the thin green curtain to give them disapproving looks.

Daniel cringed, Kawalsky echoed the motion.

"Carter! Good to see you up and around. I was just hearing of your heroics," Jack said, clearing his throat and sitting up a little straighter in the bed, painfully aware of the fact that he was covered with little more than a sheet. She didn't seem to notice, and merely shook her head at him. He took the opportunity to sum up her appearance. No visible signs of injury... aside from the distinct weariness in her stance.

"It was pretty simple once the Jaffa they'd realized they weren't getting through our iris," she explained finally, "When they left it gave me the opportunity to get to the Gate without a major firefight. I thought they'd given up for good, but it was obviously just to return with more fire power. They've been at it now for the past three days."

Her words were emphasized by the klaxons which started blaring, followed closely by what sounded like an irritating airline-hostess voice stating, _'three minutes to self destruct.'_

"Ugh, I'll never get used to that," Daniel shuddered.

"They're not getting through," Sam reassured, "How's Sha're doing with all of this?"

"She's asleep right now in the VIP quarters... I don't know why they call them that."

"Stay at my place again, I don't mind," Kawalsky said, rising to his feet.

"Or mine," Jack offered.

"_Or _you could stay in the apartment I just secured for you," Sam smiled, quite pleased with herself, " It comes complete with furniture, and the fridge is stuffed with food. The Air Force will set you up with anything else you need to get started, just let us know."

Daniel's eyes widened, "But what about Sha're? They said she wouldn't be allowed off base yet."

"Taken care of. She checked out healthy at the infirmary, there was really no reason to keep her confined to the base. I'll arrange for an airman to meet you two topside in a couple hours. He'll take you to your new place, and will be back in the morning to-- omff!"

Sam's words were cut off by her friend's enveloping hug.

"I love you, have I mentioned that before? Thank you Sam, really," Daniel said sincerely.

"You're embarrassing yourself Doctor," Kawalsky rolled his eyes, "I've got your transportation covered. Now get that pretty wife of yours ready and meet me at the surface. Colonels..." he said in departure, dragging an excitable archaeologist behind him.

"How the hell did you get that set up so quickly?" Jack asked in wonderment, once they were alone.

"Pulled a few strings, you know how it is," Sam smirked, leaning over the foot of his bed, "Besides, you _have_ been unconscious for a few days. So how are you doing, O'Neill?"

It might have been pure wishful thinking, but Jack was sure her eyes softened in concern.

"Just peachy, Carter. Doc said she'd release me this afternoon if I behaved," he replied, his mood improving at the thought.

She merely nodded, looking down at her hands as she fiddled with his IV, "That's good. Um, well I just wanted to stop by and say that... I'm glad... you're not dead."

"Me to. You I mean, not me. I'm glad that you're okay," he fumbled with the words, "You **are** okay, right?"

"Nothing serious. I've got an MRI scheduled for later this afternoon at the Academy hospital. Persistant migraines."

"I have that effect on people, sorry," Jack said apologetically.

"Now that I can believe," she smiled a little, playing with the corner of his bed sheet. He studied her for a moment. It was like she wasn't quite ready to leave yet, almost as if she was waiting for something. That was when he made his decision.

"Hey Carter..." Jack began, clearing his throat, needing to talk to her.. All he knew was that something good had happened between them on that planet, something he felt was worth exploring. He'd be retired by the end of the day anyway, so he figured he had nothing to lose at this point

"Yeah?" she looked back up at him quickly.

"I know this may seem a little out of the blue... or not, depending on how much of this is all in my head, but seeing as how we officially don't hate each other any more, I was wondering if maybe, um, sometime, if you'd like to... go..."

"Colonels! Just the two people I wanted to see," Hammond said from the infirmary doorway.

"Sir," the both said at once. Sam stood at attention, while Jack tried sitting up straighter... but reconsidered the idea when he heard something in his back crack.

"At ease," the General told them, "I trust you both have sufficiently recovered?"

"Yes sir," they chorused again, causing them to shoot each other annoyed looks.

"Good. I have an urgent matter to discuss that cannot be delayed any longer. Colonel O'Neill, after the painstaking review of the last mission reports, Colonel Carter's in particular, I have been given orders to retain you as part of the SGC, effective immediately."

Jack stared blankly, but a gentle prodding from Sam brought him back to the moment.

"Uh, look General…" He began, "this was just supposed to be a one-time thing," he ended with finality..

"Oh come on O'Neill... you know how much you loved it out there!" Sam said suddenly, "A man like you will go crazy without the action."

Jack looked at her, his eyes widening slightly, "You knew about this!" He recognized an ambush when he saw one.

She ducked her head slightly, but didn't shy away from the question, "Yes, I did. I tried to warn you about it back on Chulak, but you passed out on me."

"That's not the point at the moment. Just what part of 'no' are you not getting here?" He asked, resenting the idea of being manipulated into something... even if it **was** something he could very well learn to love.

"Well it's not like you've got much else going on... You were a mess before we approached you."

"See, now I resent that. You caught me on a bad day. My birthday, actually... which brings me to the point that I'm not as young as I used to be," Jack stated.

"You look good to me," Sam insisted, her eyes drawing down his body in a way that would have certainly gotten Jack's imagination going had Hammond not been in there. He settled for releasing a hollow sigh, and diverting his eyes from her.

Her presence wasn't helping him think straight. Perhaps it was all the drugs in his blood-stream, but he couldn't help but notice how wide eyed and beautiful Colonel Samantha Carter was when she wanted something. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell **what** exactly it was that she wanted from him. If this was her way of holding onto whatever was growing between them, she was going about it all wrong. Working together would set a definite barrier between them, considering the regs. On the other hand, if she just wanted him as part of the SGC because of his experience as a USAF colonel, then suggesting otherwise would make him look like a total ass.

"Well, Colonel?" the General asked.

"I'll be blunt here," he said, looking between the two of them, "I'm willing to give up this position at the SGC if I get a better offer. Now can either of you give me a reason not to return to full time duty?" he asked them both, but looked solely at her.

"What the hell are you on about O'Neill? There **is **no better off than the SGC!" Sam said exasperated.

Jack nodded. He was sharp enough to realize when he didn't even register on a woman's radar, though this _was_ the first time it had happened since... puberty.

"I guess I'm in then, General," Jack smiled wryly. Whatever feelings he may or may not have for Sam Carter would have to wait. Hopefully he'd wrench his knee within the first week, and be forced into a permenent retirement, and Sam-- in the sheer guilt of it all-- would be compelled to nurse him back to health. Or sleep with him. Either one would do.

"Excellent, I'll take care of the paperwork. I suggest the two of you pick out your teams... anyone you want, you'll get them. Personnel files will be made available to you immediately; I expect your decisions by the end of the week. Now if you'll excuse me, this base tends to fall apart when I'm not around," he joked good-naturedly.

"Yes sir," they chorused as their general departed.

If Jack was feeling at all uneasy with the situation, the killer smile Sam was giving him was enough to wipe it all away. Her enthusiasm was damn near infectious, and he found himself smiling back. For what reason, he had no clue.

"You're getting released soon, right?" she asked, tilting her head and biting on her lower lip, a million fast-paced thoughts running across her features. Jack was getting tired just looking at her.

"Couple hours if all goes well."

"Great! I'll be over tonight around six."

"I... what?"

"Picking our teams, O'Neill. You, me, between the two of use we practically know everyone on this base already, so it'll make the job easier. Plus, we avoid the remote possibility of choosing the same people."

He still looked at her, blankly.

"Of course, there's no pressure here, if you'd rather not..."

"No! I'd like that Carter, really."

Her grin had returned the next instant, "This is going to be great. I'm really glad we'll be working together," she took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before leaving the room, with a definite bounce in her step.

"See you tonight O'Neill!" she called over her shoulder.

"Yeah... tonight, right."

Jack shut his eyes and sighed.

* * *

"Do I _have _to go?" the boy asked restlessly, stuffing clothes and a couple books into his pack. 

"This is important," the woman answered.

"To who? Not to me, and I know he doesn't care either."

"He does sweetheart, I promise."

"That's why you have to call and remind him about it every month... and he's not even picking up this time!"

"I'm sure he'll be home by the time we get there."

"Right, whatever," he said grabbing a couple CDs. I'll be in the car."

* * *

"I want Daniel," Sam insisted. 

"Hell no! He's mine," Jack growled.

"He likes me better."

"I had him first."

"Okay, then if you get Daniel, I want Teal'c"

"What! Aggrgh... fine, look. You take Daniel, but I've got to have Teal'c. That way all I'll need to pick out is a brainiac, and then I'm done."

"And I'll just need someone who can point and shoot when I tell them to," Sam said in agreement.

The two grinned at each other, then turned back to the mountain of files before them. They'd been at this for the past two hours, but had only really started making progress within the last three minutes.

"What about her?" Sam asked, tossing a file across the low coffee table. It slid across smoothly, landing just in front of the man on the other end.

"Geologist with a bag full of degrees from some egghead university... yadda, yadda, yadda... she's got no field experience, and I don't like her hair. Pass." Jack said, tossing the folder onto an ever-growing reject pile on the floor.

"How about this guy for you , Carter?" He suggested to Sam, holding up another personnel file.

"Ugh- Marine. Pass," she replied shaking her head.

"Yeah, I thought the same. Probably would be better to give the Marines their own team" Jack grunted moodily, chucking the file haphazardly over his shoulder.

"Okay, this one has potential. His name's Doctor Zekvinovk-"

"Ah! Russian. Pass," he interrupted.

"Czech, actually."

"Same difference."

"Do you **practice** being offensive, or does it come naturally?"

"This has nothing to do with nationality! I just have a little problem with scientists. Especially Russian ones. I mean be honest with me Cater - do I really need a geek on the team?"

"When you're stuck off world with no GDO and a Stargate that won't dial out...? Yeah, you'll need one."

"Well **you** still need to find yourself a GI Joe."

"GI Joe wasn't Air Force."

"Oh, now who's being offensive? What about him? _Great _hair." Jack nodded approvingly, folding the sheet into a paper airplane and gliding it over to Sam with almost perfect aim.

She sighed, catching it and scanning the words quickly.

"Standard issue fly boy, test scores high all around..." She surmised.

"See-- perfect." Jack grinned.

"Hmmm...a little too perfect."

"Carter, is there no pleasing you?"

"Well this decision is pretty important! We're picking the people who we're literally going to have to trust with our lives- so excuse me if I don't base my decisions on the individual's hair."

"When you put it like that... ugh, I'd never take any of these people out into the field with me." Jack groaned, rubbing his hands over his eyes.

"Well, did you have anyone else in mind?"

"At the moment the only people I'd trust to watch my back are you, Daniel, and Teal'c."

Sam looked at him in surprise.

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah. Well, and Kawalsky, but he has his hands full with SG3."

"I **am** in the process of setting up my own team too, O'Neill."

"Yeah, I realize that Carter... but I'm just saying if things were different, I would have wanted you on my team."

"...And I would have wanted you on mine."

"Really?"

"God no. I was just being polite."

Jack tossed a pillow at her head with sloppy accuracy, a second after she ducked out of the way grinning.

"You like me. Admit it. Or else you wouldn't have written that glowing report about me," he said haughtily to the woman who was draped over his couch like an expensive piece of silk, her eyes laughing up at him. He'd be a liar if he claimed his heart hadn't just skipped a beat that moment. He'd been thinking about kissing her, for a while now, and for the most part, the thought didn't seem to shock him. If it ever did happen, he was sure it would be through instinct. Perfectly natural, and quite... wonderful. Aside from the obvious career blunder it would cause, of course.

"I'm still miffed Hammond didn't let me read it," Jack said quickly, clearing his throat, as well as his feelings, and taking the opportunity to put a little space between them again.

"Well I didn't fall over myself praising you if that's what you mean."

"Oh please... I bet wrote ALL about my amazing tactical maneuvers, conduct under fire, heroic persona..."

"...Your exceptional ability to stab yourself with your own knife and then faint... twice."

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you? Well then what else could you have written about me! Maybe a chapter or two about how great my ass looks in a pair of BDUs?"

"Yes, that's it exactly," Sam nodded.

"Seriously Carter, what the hell did you say t make them want me back so bad? You know I got three calls from the Pentagon to confirm that I'd taken the job? Just doesn't make sense to me."

"Oh cut it out already O'Neill. You know you're the Air Force's beloved golden boy. They weren't going to let you leave once they'd gotten you back again. They're all head over heels in love with you at the SGC."

"Well... while, we're on the subject of ego petting, the same is true for you. I'm telling ya, half the airmen on base worship the concrete you walk on."

"I'm talking about respect, not having 'Carter iz sexy' scrawled on the bathroom wall."

"Okay- that was NOT me."

Luckily, Sam didn't get a chance to question him further, as the phone rang and the doorbell chimed synchronously.

"Get the door will ya Carter? It's probably the pizza," Jack asked, heading into the kitchen to find the phone.

"Fine, but you're paying for the next one," she called after him, grabbing her wallet.

"Hey, gimme a second..." she said opening up the door and rifling for some cash. She looked up, smiled, and handed a few bills to the teenager.

He frowned, slightly confused, "Uh..."

"Right! Tip. Sorry, here you go... where is it?" she asked, belatedly realizing the boy wasn't carrying anything but a backpack slung over his shoulder.

"Where's what?"

"The pizza."

"What pizza?"

"Honey, is everything oka- oh... hello," a woman smiled, coming up beside the boy. Her fair hair was pulled back and swept up in an elegant style, which contradicted the casual clothing she wore. She regarded Sam evenly, sizing her up in a single glance.

"Not the pizza boy!" Sam exclaimed, more for her own benefit than anyone else.

"Sara?" Jack said, appearing behind Sam, one hand over the mouth of the phone, obviously still in the middle of a conversation.

"Jack, you're looking well," she nodded to him, "...and you forgot about this weekend, didn't you?"

"Of course I didn't!" Jack said a little too loudly. "How you doing, Charlie?"

"Great," he said rolling his eyes. "Here's your money, Lady. I'll be in my room Dad," he continued, returning Sam's bills, and maneuvering through the entrance. A door slammed three seconds later.

"You thought my son was the pizza guy?" Jack said indignantly to Sam.

"Seems like that's the least of your problems right now O'Neill," Sam replied, offering the other woman a polite smile before retreating to the lounge to gather her files.

"Honestly Jack- first weekend of every month. Is it really that hard to remember?" Sara asked, exasperated, glancing down at her watch.

"Things have been a little... intense lately."

"Hm, so I can see. What's her name?"

"Who? Carter? I work with her, she hates me."

"Of course she does. I'm glad you're with someone Jack. Just, talk it over with Charlie, okay? This whole thing hasn't been easy on him..."

"I noticed. What was with his attitude?"

"School. Friends. Girl troubles. You remember what it was like when you were fifteen."

"Actually no, the girls loved me."

"And you loved the girls."

"Yet another thing we had in common. Now **that** information would have been useful before we got married."

"I only realized I was attracted to women after marrying you, Jack."

"Aint that what every man wants to hear."

"You want to get into this right now?"

"Guess not."

''Lisa's waiting in the car, I'll pick Charlie up Monday morning. Take care of yourself, Jack," she said, leaning a hand on his arm to brush a kiss on his cheek.

"Yeah, okay. Tell Lisa I say hello, and don't have too much fun alone together this weekend... but feel free to send me a tape if you do."

Sara shook her head and sighed before leaving.

Belatedly, Jack realized he still had the phone in his hands.

"Daniel! Sorry about that... yes... no... look, it can't be that- okay. I'll be there in... ah crap... it's just that my son... look, don't worry, I'll take care of it." Jack said, hanging up on his frantic friend when he saw Carter gathering her things.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Leaving."

"Wait! I need a favor."

"You still owe me for that time I saved your life."

"Do this one thing for me, and I promise never, ever, to ask you for anything else ever again."

"Oh if I had a nickel...fine! What?"

"Daniel just called- apparently the boys at the NID want to pick up Teal'c."

"That's ridiculous!" Sam's eyes widened, "I took care of all his paperwork the day we got back to the SGC! Classified him as an alien refugee, I even did a little research and set up a new set of judicial parameters to prevent this sort of thing from-"

"You don't know this guy Carter, his name's Harry Maybourne, works for the NID... he'll work any loop holes he can to get what he needs. Look, I've handled him before and he caves really easily, nothing to worry about. I just... could you maybe watch Charlie?"

"What?"

"My kid, Carter, can you watch him until I get back?"

"Does it say 'nanny' anywhere on my clothing?"

"Please?"

"O'Neill, no offense intended, but I really, really hate children, and the feeling's usually mutual. My niece and nephew ritually throw up on my shoes then crawl away screaming whenever they see me."

"Charlie's teenager! Put on a little MTV, and throw him a pop tart every few hours, and he's set for the next five years. He'll be no trouble, I promise, you won't even have to do anything. I just don't want to leave him alone when he's in one of his moods- please?"

"But... but... what if you need my help?"

"Trust me, I can handle it. Besides, Teal'c's on my team now, that makes him my responsibility."

"Argh! Alright, but do NOT make a habit out of this. Now go help Teal'c... I'm holding you personally responsible if he gets dragged off to some research facility."

"Relax, it's all under control." Jack smirked, heading off down the hallway of his home.

"Hey, Charlie... Charlie, come out here a second will you?" Jack knocked on the door of his son's room, but heard no reply except for the blast of some awful music from the stereo... Greenweek or something.

"CHARLES O'NEILL! I don't have time for this!" He yelled in frustration.

"What?" a tousled mop of brown hair stuck out the door.

"There's someone I want you to meet."

"You mean the hot blonde? Nice work Dad, I seriously thought you were washed out in that department."

"It's not like that, I would have told you if it was, and her name's Colonel Carter. You don't get to call her anything else. Now I've got to go out for a little while, so she's staying with you."

"What- you're getting her to babysit me?"

"This isn't negotiable, soldier. Now I'll only be gone a couple hours. Think you can behave yourself until then?"

"Yes sir," Charlie answered mockingly, slamming the door in his father's face.

With that, Jack turned to leave, giving a nod to Sam, who had settled back into reviewing more personnel files, chewing on the back of her pen.

He almost collided with the real delivery guy on his way out the door, but managed to get to his car with relative ease. Truthfully, Jack was more nervous about leaving Carter alone with his teenager than he was about facing Maybourne again.

* * *

Rodney Mckay. Sam had forgotten about him... she'd referenced some of his work while creating the SGC's dialing protocols. As far as she knew, he was still stuck in Area 51 playing with the power sources used in the staff weapons. She momentarily wondered if he'd be interested in joining an SG team... she really couldn't think of anyone else who could put up with a guy like Jack O'Neill. 

"Hey."

Sam looked up from her laptop to see the boy, holding up a white square box. His jeans were three sizes too big for him, as was the hockey shirt he wore, but Sam figured it was intentional. It was his eyes that struck her most, though. They were a cool blue, as his mother's had been.

"Hi." she replied, closing her laptop.

"Dad paid the real pizza guy on his way out... you want some?" He offered.

"Maybe later. You go ahead." Sam smiled, watching him inhale the food.

"So any idea where he ran off to?" Charlie asked, slouching into the seat Jack had occupied moments ago.

"He needed to help a friend out of a little trouble." Sam explained vaguely.

"Yeah, it's always something."

"Ditches you a lot, does he?"

"Guess he has his reasons."

"I never saw it that way with my dad... he was also in the Air Force. Always on some mission or the other- conveniently around Christmas, or birthdays."

"Yeah, dads can be assholes."

"Hey!"

"Oh **what**? You're going to tell me he's just doing his job, that he's got no choice, that I shouldn't take it personally?"

"What? No, I just wanted one of those bread sticks. Go on, you were saying something about your dad being an ass?"

"I don't get it. Mom's always defending him, but that's the reason she left him in the first place. Well, that, and she's a lesbian."

Sam choked on her bread stick.

"Dad didn't tell you?"

"Uh, no. Well, it's none of my business anyway."

"So there's really nothing going on with you two..."

"If there was, I would have shot him by now."

"Good. I really don't need a third mom."

"And I really don't need a teenage step-son."

"Kid brother then? Siblings, yeah, that would work for us."

"Why the need to classify?"

"I'm insecure. I come from a broken home. I'm an only child. Need I go on?"

"No... that's fine. Seeing as how your dad and I are going to be working together, I guess the title of older sister would be appropriate. Have to warn you though, I already have a brother, and he might take offense to this."

"I'll take my chances. Well, Colonel Carter, we should celebrate our newfound siblingness. Beer?"

"Not a chance, kid."

"Damn. How about Xbox?"

"About that..."

* * *

"The NID has been monitoring every piece of paper leaving the SGC, and it's our opinion that this command should be placed under stricter supervision, immediately. Now my orders come from the top- and I'm not leaving without the Jaffa. He's the enemy. What part of that can't you understand?" Maybourne asked with an ugly scowl. 

"He saved our lives- there's no reason for him to be poked and prodded in some damn government facility when he could help us fight the Goa'uld..._ those_ would be the bad guys," Jack said slowly for the other man's benefit.

"What O'Neill says is true. I shall pledge my allegiance to this world, and share my knowledge freely," Teal'c stated somberly.

"Fine. How many humans did you kill in your service of Apophis?" Maybourne sneered.

"Don't answer his questions Teal'c. You don't owe it to us... if anything, we're the ones who should be showing you a little more respect. General?" Jack asked, turning to Hammond and willing the man to kick Maybourne out on his ass.

"There's nothing I can do Colonel," he told Jack regretfully. "Unless there's a valid reason to keep Teal'c on base temporarily..."

"Sir!" Janet Fraiser piped up suddenly. "I believe that there is enough medical incentive for Mr. Teal'c to remain in the infirmary. We have no idea what could make the symbiote leap from host to host, he's a threat if we let him leave this facility."

"Doctor Fraser, I assure you that-" Teal'c cut off his sentence when Jack kicked him in the ankle beneath the briefing table.

"I... would understand your caution, of course. A wise decision." Teal'c corrected himself.

"What! This is outrageous, you can't just-"

"Do not tell me what I can and cannot do on my own base, Colonel Maybourne." Hammond snapped.

"General, sir! I have an urgent message for doctor Fraiser," a wide-eyed sergeant interrupted them. The General nodded for him to enter.

"What is it airman?" Janet asked, flipping open the folder she just received.

"It's the MRI results from the Air Force Academy Hospital," the man told her nervously, "There was some sort of delay-"

"Oh my God..."

"What's up Doc?" Jack asked, echoing the sentiments of everyone in the briefing room.

"It's Colonel Carter's scans… why didn't I receive this sooner!" she demanded, growing visibly pale.

"Doctor?" The General asked gently.

"I'm sorry sir, I don't know how we missed it…"

"Missed what!" Jack asked, his patience wearing thin.

"Colonel Carter's a Goa'uld, sir."

There was a beat of silence. Jack was the first to find his voice.

"That's impossible-- I was with her this evening, we were going over personnel files together!" he argued, leaving no room for doubt.

"I don't know what to say, Colonel, but the evidence is clear. See for yourself," she passed the scan to him. The image of a creature wrapped around the vertebrae was unmistakable.

"How could this happen? Did anyone notice her acting differently?" Hammond questioned.

"No!" Jack said vehemently, "I mean I would have been able to **tell** if she were a Goa'uld for cryin' out loud! I would have known..."

"Not necessarily, Colonel. How would a symbiote enter a human host?" Janet asked, turning to Teal'c.

"It is most commonly performed through the back of the neck."

"Shit," Jack groaned, not quite caring who heard him. He remembered it clearly. Her scar, the blood.

"It's right here in her medical report. I made a note of it because the wound seemed particularly deep..." Janet swallowed drly.

"If that is the case, then Colonel Carter is most certainly a Goa'uld." Teal'c stated.

Jack almost knocked over his seat as he shot up from it.

"I... I have to go. I left her with my son, General," he said suddenly, really not believing that this was happening.

"Go. I'll send SG2 to back you up, and Dr. Jackson will meet you at the surface." Hammond nodded.

"Don't bother." Maybourne said . " If the NID intercepted those results- which I'm guessing is the reason for your delay in receiving them-- then they're already tracking Colonel Carter."

"Maybourne if those idiots go in shooting while my son's still in the house..." Jack snapped furiously, not bothering to conceal an overwhelming nausea that had suddenly gripped him.

"I'm sorry, Jack, but I swear they didn't tell me about this. It must have been a last minute...!" Maybourne trailed off.

Jack was already out the door.

* * *

Dun... dun dun... that would be my equivalent of a dramatic cliff. Hope you liked it. To be honest, I have the next thirty pages written up already, it just takes me forever to post because I keep changing my mind about things. Fickle much? ;)  



	7. Chapter 7

You told me to update sooner, so here it is! For some reason I'm bouncing between POVs in this one, but it's still pretty easy to follow. Hope you like it :)

Chapter 7

* * *

She turned sharply, a shadow creeping just beyond the corner of her eye. The first time it had happened she'd blamed it on lack of sleep and an over-active imagination, but now she knew for certain that something was wrong. Closing her eyes for a second, she heard it again, the noises now unmistakable. Sam Carter was never one to get spooked easily, so when her senses screamed to her, she usually listened. Shifting in the seat, she rose slowly, not looking directly out the window. 

"What's up, Sam?" Charlie asked.

"Nothing, just thought I heard something."

"That would be the sound of your crushing defeat."

"Hey, I'm not out of the game just yet."

"I've killed you six times."

"Well... this programming is defective, and the graphics are ridiculous. There's no logical way this woman's breasts can be that large without her spine collapsing. Where does your father keep his gun?"

"Wha-huh?"

"I don't want to freak you out or anything, but there's someone outside your house."

"Oh, well as long as you're _not_ trying to freak me out or anything!" He grumbled, scrambling off the floor where he'd been laying, "Who is it?"

"No idea, but there's more than one of them I'd guess. Professionals. Armed, maybe."

"Whoa...you can tell all of that without even seeing them? What color socks are they wearing?"

"I'm not messing around here, Charlie."

"Sorry. I get a little hyper when faced with imminent murder... or when I've had too much sugar."

"Don't worry about it," she smiled, despite her own anxiousness, "Your dad would disembowel anyone who so much as sneezed on you. Beneath that I-don't-care attitude, he's got a stifling over-protectiveness."

"My dad, the onion."

"Gun, Charlie."

"I have no idea Sam. Didn't even know he kept one here..."

Sam released a short sigh. Jack was a soldier, his sidearm was practically an extension of his own body... but there was no time to go looking for it.

"Okay, listen up. I want you to stay here. Whatever happens, keep your head down and don't move."

"What if someone starts shooting at me?"

"Then you have permission to move."

"But what if—"

"Shhh!" Sam hissed as the lights cut out.

Anticipating what would follow, she managed to shove Charlie down as several crashes accompanied a stream of bullets, raining just above their heads. Didn't take a genius to realize they'd misfired on purpose, obviously a warning more than anything else.

The fact didn't offer much comfort.

Diving across the floor, Sam managed to tackle the first intruder behind the knees, twisting his arms behind his back before slamming his head into the ground. That had been easy enough, since she'd been ready for him.

She just hadn't been ready for eight more of his closest friends.

"Who are you!" she growled, soon finding herself shoved up against one of the walls by three men in suits. The point of a gun pressed firmly into the nape of her neck. She'd considered turning one of their own weapons against them, but she hadn't wanted to risk a firefight, not with O'Neill's boy in the house.

"Agent Malcolm Barrett, NID. I should probably be asking you the same question, shouldn't I? Tell me, do you work for Apophis or was your infiltration of the SGC merely for personal gain?"

Sam screwed her eyes shut as the gun bit in more snugly, just below the base of her skull. Frantically, she tried deciphering what he was saying.

"NID? As in civilian oversight? Agent, I don't know who you're getting your intelligence from, but you've obviously been misinformed. My name's Colonel Samantha Carter, US Air Force, designation alpha 32K1—"

"We _know _who your host is. She happens to be very valuable to the program."

"Well... I'm oddly touched by that. Now I'm going to do you boys a favor here before you embarrass yourselves further, so listen up: I'm **not** a Goa'uld," she said slowly, even as her hands were cuffed behind her back.

"Sir- Sir, there's a boy here!" Another agent called.

"Sam, you okay? What's with the penguins?" Charlie asked, more angry than frightened, trying to wrench himself away from the man who had him by the scruff of the neck. Having his father's exceptional ability to make a bad situation worse, he decided to fight back, biting the agent in the arm. He managed to illicit a howl of pain, but it did little more than earn him a clout to the head.

"Hey! Would you leave him out of this?" Sam snapped, "Charlie, don't struggle, just do what they say. There's been a little misunderstanding," she continued calmly, noting the tiny bump on the boy's forehead. O'Neill was going to kill her.

"Subject contained. Sweep in progress, extraction phase one complete," Barrett's clipped voice said into his collar.

"Agent, if you don't want to believe me, would you at least call the SGC? I had a full examination before leaving the infirmary- they can verify my identity."

"Is that so? Well then maybe you can explain _this_ to us."

Barrett motioned towards another agent, who pulled out an envelope and spilled the contents onto the low lying table.

"We intercepted the results of your MRI. It's a good thing the personnel on duty didn't know what they were looking at, or else we'd have had a containment issue."

Sam's eyes widened at the documents splashed together before her. For a moment, she thought the whole thing was one giant practical joke, but the look on Barrett's face told her otherwise. The images showed clearly the structure of a snake-like creature wrapped around human cervical vertebrae. Her own name and designation number were printed neatly in the corner of each copy.

"This h-has to be a mistake," she said, bewildered, "I don't—"

"Hey there, kids! Making yourselves at home I see," A voice from the hallway interrupted the commotion; all eyes turned to the man, who was flanked by several armed airmen.

Sam couldn't help but utter a sigh of pure relief as she recognized the voice. She'd never admit it out loud, but if she'd ever needed a knight in shining combat boots...

"Who the hell are you, and how did you get past our security!" Agent Barrett barked out, in surprise.

"Colonel Jack O'Neill, SGC, home owner," the man said lazily, swatting away the weapons pointed at him like they were little more than toys, "As for your _security_, you might want to check the back door next time. Now if I've answered all your questions, I'd like everyone who's pointing a gun at my **son** to stand down. Unless they want their sidearms shoved up someplace very uncomfortable that is." His words were candid, but his deadly serious tone left no room for objection.

"Do it, he's clean," Barrett nodded to his team, belatedly recognizing O'Neill's ID, "My apologies for the intrusion, Colonel, but we had to act quickly. I assume you've been made aware of the situation..."

Jack ignored him, and moved instead to Charlie's side.

"Hey soldier, you okay? Are you hurt anywhere else?" Jack asked crouching down and running his fingers across the small bruise forming on Charlie's forehead.

"No- Dad, I'm fine," the boy replied, swatting Jack's hands away, almost in embarrassment, "...but would you mind telling me what's going on? What the heck is a Goold? I mean one minute I'm on level six, then there's shooting, and the men-in-black extras bust in, so Sam knocked me out the-"

"God, Charlie, I'm sorry for leaving you with her, but I swear I didn't know," Jack whispered earnestly, "I can't answer your questions right now— I have to take care of a few things here. There's a guy outside waiting for you. Geeky, wears glasses, goes by the name of Daniel. He's going to keep an eye on you for a little while, and make sure you get to the medics, okay?" Jack ruffled his son's short brown hair, much to the boy's chagrin.

Too wrapped up in his own rampant emotions, the relief of finding his son safe and alive, Jack missed the concerned look Charlie had thrown to Sam. She sent him a quick smile as he was escorted out of the house by an USAF airman.

"O'Neill... you have no idea how glad I am to see you! A little help this way, please?" Sam called as they attempted to drag her off. She managed to hold her ground, barely.

"Tell your men to stop," Jack ordered Barrett, who nodded in reply.

"Thank you!" Sam exclaimed, "Listen, assuming the MRI was even remotely accurate, and I _have_ been compromised by a Goa'uld symbiote, then something must have gone wrong when it entered me. I can't explain it, but I'm definitely still myself," Sam continued, straining. She barely noticed Jack closing in on her.

"...So if you can get me back to SGC, I might be able to run some tests to-- ahhgh!"

Sam hadn't seen the fist coming until the last moment, and felt the full brunt of the impact as her head snapped to the side, sending her body reeling.

"Colonel-!" Agent Barrett snapped barely preventing Sam's tumble to the ground.

"Stay out of this," Jack warned him, shaking the pain out of his aching fist. It had been a long time since he'd hit anyone that hard. He wanted to do more. A lot more. The thought would have scared him had he stopped to consider it, but he was about ready to erupt in emotion, and _consideration_ was the last thing on his mind.

"Now you listen to me," he said slowly, a darkness creeping into his voice, "You may think you're a fucking genius for fooling us, but we're onto you. God help me— if I find out you did _anything_ to my son, there will be hell to pay. As for what you've done to Carter I can't even BEGIN to describe all the things I want to do to you..."

He trailed off, clenching his jaw, trying to bite back the anger and focus on what he was saying.

"There's no way in hell we're losing her, not like this," Jack murmured under his breath, "The SGC doesn't care what happens to you; we'll let the NID do whatever they hell they want. If they can't get the job done, then I swear I'll rip you out of her myself, but we will have her back. Do we have an understanding?"

Still too stunned, Sam barely registered his words. O'Neill, the sonofabitch, hadn't even pulled his punch. She could have sworn he'd broken his fingers on her jaw, but even if he had, he'd be too far gone to notice. Through her own blurred vision, she saw his eyes well up in a mixture of fear and fury—emotion she hadn't thought him capable of.

She shook her head. All this for what? He thought she was a Goa'uld? Sam had never been one to argue with cold facts... and unless this was a cruel hoax, the facts told her that she **had** been taken as a host, at least in a physiological sense. That would certainly explain the persistent headaches... but for reasons she couldn't comprehend at the moment, she **was **still herself. Unfortunately, nobody would believe her right now, not even her own people.

She released a short and derisive laugh at the situation, then stopped abruptly when she realized her mistake.

The warm brown eyes that usually wore an adorable expression of puzzlement were now chilling pools of black.

"Use that tranquilizer. Now, before it starts struggling again," Jack said to Barrett, his eyes unwavering from hers, "Don't underestimate its ability to overpower your men, and don't lose those 'cuffs. The SGC will be in contact regarding Carter's condition, but the Goa'uld cannot be allowed near the Stargate. Do what you whatever is necessary to find out what it knows."

Sam barely grasped what she was hearing. She wasn't sure she wanted to.

"Oh, this isn't happening..." she faltered in disbelief, "O'Neill! Dammit- c'mon, you can't just let them take me! I'm me, I swear I am! I don't know what's going on here, but I'll never be able to figure it out if I don't get back to the SGC...cuff me, drug me, do whatever the hell you want, but let me go back with you…! O'Neill..."

He didn't even flinch at her words as he stalked from his home.

She heard a door slam shut, just as a sharp prick at her neck broke skin, releasing dizzying chemicals into her blood stream. For a moment, she thought she was falling.

* * *

The first thing Daniel saw as he entered the infirmary was several nurses cleaning up the mess from an overturned supply cart. He didn't need to ask who was responsible. 

"Jack..."

"What."

"How are... things?" He asked carefully, handing his friend a coffee.

"Peachy," the colonel replied shortly, accepting the hot styrofoam cup with a nod.

"I heard you've been terrorizing the local equipment."

"I had a moment. It's over now, I'm fine."

Daniel studied his friend for a long interval. He didn't look like he was anywhere near being fine, but the archaeologist knew how to pick his battles. Arguing with him while his son lay unconscious in bed three feet away just wasn't a good idea.

"Janet said Charlie's okay— nothing happened to him," Daniel said cautiously.

Jack shook his head, leaning back in the uncomfortable seat.

"It's what _could _have happened Daniel. It's got me feeling sick whenever I think of it. You know they actually had to perform a scan on him too, just to make sure that thing hadn't jumped hosts? God- I left him alone with a... a _snakehead_." Jack all but shuddered.

"You couldn't have known."

"I was supposed to be looking out for him. Instead I bring my work home with me, and he ends up getting trapped in the middle of it. Sometimes I wonder why Sara let's me see him at all."

"He needs you."

"He needs a father. I was never quite right for the job."

"Believe me, he doesn't care. He'll take what he can get," Daniel said softly.

"He deserves better. I don't even know how this happened!"

"We haven't heard his side of the story yet, Jack... maybe he can give us more information about Sam."

"Fuck. I can't even think of her right now," Jack muttered, hanging his head, and rubbing his hands over his eyes tiredly.

"But if Charlie wasn't hurt badly, maybe Sam was still in there, somewhere. Maybe she was fighting it?" Daniel suggested.

"You heard what Teal'c said. As far as he knows, nothing of the host survives."

"Now that's most likely a lie propagated by the Goa'uld to instill fear in people. I'd bet anything that her consciousness is just...suppressed."

Jack grew visibly paler.

"Well that's **great,** isn't it! Carter's trapped inside her own body, while that snake has her under it's control. Dammit, Daniel, what if she's hurting? What if it's putting her through hell right now?" Jack stopped short, forcing himself to catch his breath, though it was a whole lot more painful than he'd anticipated. "It never should have been her. Maybe if I'd done it differently. Maybe if I hadn't impaled myself on my own bayonet, I could have been watching her back. I could have prevented this."

"Maybe you could have," Daniel sighed in resignation.

"What!" Jack all but yelled.

"Huh?"

"You're supposed to be telling me this isn't my fault, Daniel."

"Oh! Uh... this isn't your fault Jack."

"Some help you are. Why are you here anyway? Don't you have a rock to translate?"

"See, now you're just projecting your anger."

"Do you** want **me to project my fist instead?"

"What, like when you hit Sam?"

"Don't even go there," Jack warned, the ache in his hand suddenly more acute, forcing the memory of her shocked face to return fresh to his mind. He'd turned away before her bruise had started to form... couldn't stomach seeing her that way, not when his eyes were telling him he'd just hit Samantha Carter and not a stinkin' alien snakehead.

"It wasn't her Daniel. She's a Goa'uld. We'll never be able to trust anything coming out of her mouth."

"Well it's not like you bothered to listen in the first place."

"If you've got something to say, then say it."

"I can't seem to shake the feeling that we're making a huge mistake here! It just doesn't add up."

"You SAW the snake wrapped around her neck- what more proof do you need?"

Daniel sighed, resting his head in his hands.

"Right... I realize that. It's probably just wishful thinking, I'm sorry," he said softly.

"We'll get her back, Daniel," Jack said with confidence. "The alternative isn't acceptable.".

"Dad..." a shallow voice interrupted them.

"Hey! Look who's up. Feeling better, soldier?" Jack asked, quickly getting to his feet and moving to his son's side.

He looked weary, and nauseous, but he forced himself upright in the bed, held steady by a firm arm.

"Are you kidding? I was fine when I walked in!" He groaned, "Then the short woman gave me all these shots that... oh... I think I'm gonna... yes, definitely going to throw up again..."

Jack scrambled for a nearby basin, sticking it below his son's head before he was treated to a lovely view of partially digested pizza.

"Well, at least I know for sure now that you're not doing drugs at school," Jack grinned, handing his son a glass of water to rinse out his mouth, "Otherwise you'd have handled that a lot better."

"What was in that stuff they gave me?" Charlie groaned.

"Mild sedative. We needed you relaxed so we could do a few other tests," Jack explained, knowing the phrase by heart since he'd heard it so many times himself.

"Great. I'm relaxed. Can I go now? And what happened to Sam?"

"Don't worry, she's gone now."

"Gone? Where?"

"We can talk about that later. Right now I need you to tell me exactly what happened tonight. I'm sorry to have to do this right now, but I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important," Jack said regretfully, seeing the worn look on his son's face.

"Why is it so urgent?"

"Humor me; and be specific."

"O-kay...Well, when you left, Sam and I talked over pizza."

"What did she say?"

"Uhm, She told me her Father was also in the Air Force, and that he was just as crappy at being a father as you are... though I have to say, excellent work ordering those suits around. Very cool."

"I have my super-dad moments. Go on."

"She explained to me that the both of you were just working together, and that someone would probably end up dead if the two of you started dating. Then we classified each other as siblings, bonded in our dislike of you, then I had to explain to her that an Xbox wasn't porn, after which I kicked her ass in Jade Empire II. I just got the game last week! The graphics are sweet, but if you ask me, the role play could use a little—"

"Focus Charlie."

"Uh right, sorry. Well... later on, she heard something outside... told me to keep my head down. Then she pushed me out of the way when the front door broke in. I blacked out for a minute, and when I came too, she was up against the wall cuffed by those idiots in suits. Oh! Then I bit the guy holding the gun to me."

"BIT...? Please tell me that's a teenage word for '_I did everything he told me to_'?"

"Uh... no. He was pushing me around, so I bit him. There were teeth marks and everything."

"Charles O'Neill, for crying out loud! You don't go around biting NID agents! You could catch something!"

"No kidding. So then the guy gave me this lovely little bruise... damn, it's fading already, isn't it? Think it'll be there on Monday? Todd and Andy are gonna be so jealous when I tell them—"

"Wait, an NID agent did this?"

"Yeah."

"Which one?"

"How the hell should I know? They all looked alike."

"You're telling me that it wasn't... Are you sure it wasn't Sam?" Jack asked perplexed.

"Huh?"

"Sam, Charlie. What did she do to you? You can tell me the truth, I'm not mad at you."

"Why would you be mad at me?"

"I don't know... I just mean, well, you didn't do anything wrong, none of this was your fault. I realize this whole thing may have been a little traumatic, but I'm here for you."

"Thank you, this Dr. Phil moment has been quite disturbing."

"Dr. Phil. I don't know him. Is he new?" Jack frowned.

"Dad! What exactly are we talking about here?" Charlie asked, frustrated.

"Sam. I'm talking about Sam. Didn't she act strange at all? Threaten you or get really angry? You mentioned before that she knocked you out..." Jack asked.

"Right. She knocked me out... **of the way**. If it wasn't for her I'd have probably gotten swiss cheesed by all those bullets coming at us."

"Charlie, I need you to think again... that can't be right...?"

"Dad- I don't know what you're getting at! Sam was cool—did I mention she let me have the entire pizza to myself? Actually, you probably saw evidence of that already..."

"What?"

"Sorry, I'll rephrase. Sam good. Really nice actually, I swear if I were ten years older..."

"Ah! Don't finish that sentence," Jack cringed.

"I tell it like it is. Now what's this really about? Did something happen to her?"

Jack was surprised by the question— but even more surprised by the tinge of fear in his son's voice. Not fear of her, fear _for _her.

"No Charlie, she's fine, I promise." Jack assured him, lying through his teeth.

"Good... tell her I say hi, and that I owe her a rematch. Just so you know, I think I might pass out again."

"Go ahead, I'll be here when you wake up."

"Jack?" Daniel asked a moment later, once Charlie had slipped back to sleep.

"Go, we'll be fine." Jack assured his friend.

"I know, but well... I heard what Charlie said about Sam. That might mean—"

"It doesn't mean anything. The Goa'uld obviously kept up its charade with Charlie too. It's fooled us all, Daniel. Don't forget what it is," Jack said with finality.

Daniel sighed and nodded, "At least he's taking it well."

"He's a tough kid," Jack nodded in agreement. "...Hey Daniel?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For being around."

"Any time," Daniel murmured turning to leave. He momentarily wondered if anyone was going to be around for Sam.

* * *

The ride in the black van was less than comfortable, and her headache's were getting steadily worse as the sedative wore off. She had no idea what it all meant. Was the Goa'uld trying to take over her body? Surely, if there was a struggle for control going on, then she'd be... struggling? At the moment she felt completely in control. Ill, but in control. 

"Agent Barney?"

"Barrett."

"Whatever. Can you tell me where we're going?"

"We're taking you to a secure location where you will be placed in a holding cell overnight."

"Thank you. Very specific. What's in store for tomorrow then?"

"The NID is assembling an investigative medical team as we speak; they're flying in from all over the country. Once we have determined the extent of the damage you have caused Colonel Carter, we will negotiate for the release of her body. In the event that negotiations fail, you will be interrogated, then forcibly removed."

"Does the SGC know where I am?"

"That's none of your concern."

"Great. Thanks, you're a big help. Huge."

She comforted herself with the thought that she'd be sending everyone on an immense guilt trip once this was all over. O'Neill especially. She experimentally opened her jaw, and winced. Definitely bruised. Resigning herself to the fact that there was nothing she could do right now, she leaned back against the inside of the van, allowing it to rock her back into a restless unconsciousness.

* * *

"General! You started the party without me?" Jack asked, ducking into the briefing room where Kawalsky and Daniel sat with Hammond. 

" You're late Colonel. Sit," the General ordered.

"Sorry sir, I had to drop my kid off. What's this about?"

"There's something I think you need to hear."

"That sounds ominous."

"It gets worse," Kawalsly muttered.

"At approximately 0500 this morning, there was an unscheduled off world activation. We received a transmission from un unknown planet," the General stated.

"What, the Goa'uld started sending Jaffa through the gate again?"

"No Jack, these weren't the Goa'uld... they call themselves the Tok'ra." Daniel explained.

"Okay... how do **you** know all of this?" Jack frowned.

"Doctor Jackson was the one who suggested we send a delegation to meet with them," Kawalsky said with false enthusiasm.

"Oh he did, did he?" Jack sent his friend a withering look, "Forgive my skepticism, but how do we know this isn't some type of Goa'uld tactic to get us to open up the iris?"

"Well, they seemed nice," Daniel cleared his throat.

"_They seemed nice_? Oh, well in that case, never mind then!" Jack said aggravated.

"Colonel, I've already assigned SG2 to the mission. They're prepping as we speak. Major Kawalsky has orders to escort no more than one of these Tok'ra in a return trip to Earth. Hopefully this representative will be willing to share information with us. " The General informed.

"_Excuse me_?" Jack asked, not quite believing his ears, "I take one day off, and suddenly we're okay with letting Goa'u'd through the 'Gate?"

"See, that's what I said," Kawalsky grunted, "I don't see we should trust these Tokey guys."

"Tok'ra," Daniel corrected.

"Do we even have any intelligence on them?" Jack asked.

"I've heard many stories of their race." Daniel stated confidently.

"I said **intelligence**."

"Hear Dr. Jackson out, Jack," the General ordered the Colonel who had no choice but to grunt and nod.

"The inscriptions I found in the chambers on Abydos spoke of these Tok'ra who were sentenced to death by the Goa'ud. Apparently they're of the same race as them, but the amazing difference is that they do not take unwilling humans as their hosts. I've confirmed this with Teal'c, and he says the rebel Jaffa have encountered these Tok'ra before, but have never officially—"

"Enough! I get the point. They're potential allies." Jack sighed.

"Not just that. They may have the knowledge that could help Sam," Daniel said urgently.

That made Jack sit up and pay attention.

"Request permission to join the team?" the Colonel asked.

"You're in no shape to lead a team through the Gate, Jack. In fact, I'm ordering you to get some sleep. Dr. Jackson is welcome to join SG2 on the mission though."

"Oh- yes please!" Daniel said practically bouncing off the walls, not catching the scathing look Jack tossed him.

"I could use Teal'c on this one too, Sir," Kawalsky added as an afterthought.

"Fortunately, that won't be a problem. I hate to put it this way, but now that the NID have their own Goa'uld, they're less interested in a Jaffa," General Hammond scowled.

"Fine. Then I'm going back to Carter," Jack stated, adamantly.

Daniel frowned, "I thought she was just staying in some sort of a detainment facility."

"_Detainment_ facility? Daniel, she didn't skip out on her parking tickets. She's got the greatest threat mankind's ever known wrapped around her neck. Excuse the dramatics." Jack snorted.

"Nothing dramatic about it. Who knows what those bastards got in store for her, that's why we need to act quickly," Kawalsky growled in agreement.

"What are you saying? You think they're planning to do something to her?" Daniel asked, growing slightly pale.

"Interrogation. Drugs, most likely, inflicted directly to the snake. They'll start with the simple stuff, and work their way up," Jack explained neutrally. That was why he wanted to keep an eye on her in the first place.

"The NID gave us their word they'd treat Colonel Carter with the utmost respect," the General said tightly, "But I agree. It may be prudent to have someone from the SGC on the inside. Just remember who you're dealing with, Jack."

"Not a problem sir," Jack assured. It was painfully clear in his mind that he wouldn't be talking to the woman he knew, no matter how much it sounded like her. He'd gotten a bitter taste of it already, hearing her begging him not to let the NID take her. Then again, last night he'd had anger fueling him, allowing him to effectively ignore her. He only hoped he had the sense to do it again.

"Good. Major Kawalsky, you have a go. Brief your team at the 'Gate, we're on the clock with this one. Dismissed."

* * *

"Can I _please_ speak to General Hammond?" Sam asked for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Okay, I'll take that as a no. What about Daniel Jackson? Dr. Fraiser? ...My lawyer?" 

The guard on the other side of the door ignored her.

She sighed frustratedly, throwing herself back down into the ridged metallic chair. For someone who made a career out of her ability to rationalize, she was remarkably uncertain of herself right now. It had always been that way. Revolutionizing the concepts of astrophysics was simple when compared to deciphering something personal. That might explain why she was sitting here, in maximum security confinement, with no hope of talking her way out of this one.

Strangely enough, the NID had stopped their interrogation within the first few hours; she'd been alone since. Well, not completely. She knew she was still being watched through the one-way window, but she preferred not to think about it.Obviously they were trying to wait her out... which certainly wasn't going to work. She could give answers to questions she knew nothing about. It was driving her slowly insane. Doing nothing. The waiting. She looked down at her bound hands infront of her... they'd taken O'Neill's words to heart, and hadn't bothered removing them.Groaning, she dropped onto the table before her, tucking her head awkwardly in her arms, and closing her eyes.

To say she was pissed would be a gross understatement. The SGC had completely thrown her to the sharks on this one, without even giving her the benefit of the doubt. They had their reasons of course— the thing wrapped around her spine being one of them. At least the scar burned across the back of her neck was no more of a mystery. There was a good chance that it had entered her that way, but she had no way of being certain. She'd had a LOT of time to think about the situation, and had left herself with two possible explanations. Whatever was inside her was either injured, or waiting for the right moment to rear its ugly head. The latter didn't seem to make any sense. There's nothing a single Goa'uld could gain, tagging a ride back to Earth on an unsuspecting human and maintaining 'radio silence' as it were.

Either way, the NID certainly weren't going to help her. Even the SGC had limited knowledge of the biological Goa'uld-host relationship. Any hope she had was through the Stargate... and_ that _was certainly beyond her limits.

Out the corner of her eye, she glanced again at the one-way window that took up a large part of the opposite wall. It made her skin crawl, wondering who was on the other side, watching her.

* * *

"You know, we do have her under 24 hour surveillance." 

Jack didn't bother to look up at the suit that had just walked into the room, but remained transfixed on the sight before him.

Once he'd been given clearence to enter the facility, he hadn't left. Studying her through the glass, she'd seemed completely worn down. Her frustration now was almost tangible as she peered sightlessly at the window separating them. With an inward groan, he forced himself to stop thinking of her along those lines. He just hadn't expected it to be this difficult.

"I don't trust your people," he finally answered.

"We're not all like Maybourne, Colonel. I'm on your side here, and I really don't want to lose someone like her this way," Barrett said plainly, loosening his tie and settling into a seat beside Jack.

"Don't give me that bullshit. She's little more than a commodity to your organization, and you know it."

"Perhaps... but what does it matter? The fact remains that as our foremost expert on the Stargate, her loss would be detrimental. I don't think you understand what that means."

"She's an egg-head. Like all the other geeks at the SGC."

Barrett shook his head, "No, Colonel. The Air Force placed too much confidence in one individual while getting the SGC on it's feet, and now we're faced with the fact that Sam Carter may be the only one on the planet who can deal with a potential crisis involving the Stargate. I don't know what the hell General Hammond was thinking, putting someone like her on the frontlines. She's the one person this shouldn't have happened to."

"Well at least we agree on that," Jack murmured tiredly, taking in this new information. Like he wasn't feeling guilty enough already. "I'm going to talk to her... it. Whatever" Jack stated, his seat screeching across the metal floors as he stood.

"I'll have to clear it with my superiors first. Then we'll send you to decontamination and brief you on the proper security measures to— hey, where do you think you're going!"

"Look, she's still under the command of the SGC, and she's our responsibility. The only reason she's stuck here is in case she tries to make a run for it through the 'Gate." Jack explained slowly. "If I can make a deal with it, then I can spare Carter from having to go through any of those medical procedures I'm sure are in the works."

Barrett sighed, a shadow of guilt passing over his features.

"Give me your gun then," he insisted, holding out his hand.

"I don't plan on shooting her," Jack argued.

"No, but you do plan on hurting her. I'd rather not let you have a gun in your hands while you do."

Reluctantly, Jack handed over his sidearm, and Barrett motioned for security to allow him into the cell.

Carter – the Goa'uld, rather – leaned over the table, her head resting on her bound arms. She glanced up briefly when she heard the cell doors open.

"Well, hi there O'Neill. Nice of you to drop by like this."

"You're welcome, snakehead. Like the accomodations?"

Sam sighed, her head lightly bouncing off the metallic table in front of her in the classic, 'I'm surrounded my idiots' motion.

"Hey! Go easy on the merchandise. We want Carter back in fully operational condition," he warned. "Now I'm here to make you a deal."

"I'm all ears. Can't be any worse than being taken hostage by the NID– thanks for all the help with that by the way."

"Leave her."

"_Leave her_? That's the deal? Someone needs to brush up on Negotiation 101."

"Leave her... and we'll set you up in a nice fish tank and send you on your way through the Gate, back to Chulak... or anywhere else you want to go. Just... leave her."

"That's the best you've got? Honestly O'Neill, even if I **was** a Goa'uld I'd never fall for something like that. This thing in me obviously has free access to sensitive information regarding the SGC. The only chance it has of going through the Gate is if it's being carried in a body bag. Or a symbiote sized equivalent."

"Fine, then take me instead," he said in all seriousness, "My head's a lot more roomy; I've made an effort over the years to retain as little information as possible."

"Now that's very heroic... just not very helpful."

"What the hell do you want then!" He growled, leaning over the table separating them.

"What I want is for someone to trust me, and start treating me like a Colonel in the USAF, and not a goddamn Goa'uld," Sam shot back, her voice reverberating through the cell.

Jack shook his head, "Well don't say I didn't try the nice approach first."

"That was your _nice_ approach? You gentleman you."

"STOP talking like her!" Jack threatened, "If you're trying to buy a little sympathy, think again."

"What do I have to do to make you hear me? I'm telling you– I AM Samantha Carter! I was born in San Diego, raised in Washington, graduated three years ahead of anyone in my class. The Air Force recruited me as soon as was legal, and my sole purpose in life up until a few years ago, was to see space through something other than a telescope. My personal life has been one huge mistake. I got married too early, divorced too late– my family still hasn't forgiven me for that, and I like diet Pepsi. Flat."

"Fine... _Sam_. So you claim you're not a Goa'uld," He said detached, getting up and circling around her.

"No. I mean, yes... obviously, I have a Gao'uld symbiote in me, but I'm telling you it's not controlling me and– what the hell are you doing?" she snapped, eyeing him warily as he placed his hands on the back of her chair and leaned in, practically breathing down her neck. .

"What's wrong _Carter_? Don't you trust me? You've asked me to trust you, I only think it's fair that your return the favor," he whispered in her ear.

"Well see, I tried that last night but you were less than willing to listen! Last I recall, you _punched _me. A girl doesn't forget something like that."

She stiffened is surprise as his hand caressed the dark purple region of her jaw.

"Oh, I wouldn't want you to forget it. Believe me, I can do much worse."

"Threatening someone in handcuffs, very brave. Well done. For what it's worth, I figure I'm safe with you."

The hand dropped away.

"You've read my file. Think again. I can do whatever the hell I want to you, and it will never make it onto official record," he began lightly, "Believe me, I've had experience at it. I'm the person the Air Force calls to do their dirty work... and you would be considered dirty work," he continued, hooking a finger in her cuffs and tugging gently.

"Is this an interrogation, or are you making an amature adult video?" Sam snorted, "Now we both know you're not going to hurt me, so you might as well stop this."

"Why are you so certain I won't?" He asked, a frustrated note creeping into his voice.

"Because I— Samantha Carter— saved your life on Chulak. I could have left you to die but I didn't. You owe me."

"Between you and me, I don't know Carter that well anyway. If she goes down with you, then so be it. It's her fault for being stupid enough to get close to a dying Jaffa."

Sam's jaw dropped slightly, and Jack saw an opportunity.

"I don't know why a Goa'uld would choose someone like her as a host in the first place. She was weak. Sloppy. Couldn't even help a wounded soldier to the Gate. Kawalsky would have gotten me back. Thanks to** her **we were stranded there for over 24 hours while I was in pain."

Jack stopped his ranting for a moment. He wasn't sure where he was going with this, but Teal'c had once mentioned that snakeheads had really big egos. Insulting Carter may be the only way to get the Goa'uld to reveal it's true identity.

"Well.. it hurts me that you would say that, but that's okay, because I know you don't mean it," was her only reply.

"Don't I? Why do you think the Pentagon was so eager to recruit me into the SGCt? Carter never would have given them what they wanted. She only reached the rank of Colonel so soon was because the USAF needed her to patch up the Stargate. Like a good little soldier, she got the job done. The fact that they put her on SG1 was simply a professional courtesy that should have expired a long time ago. Now do you really want to keep pretending to be someone like her?"

His words racing past her ear must have had some impact on her, because she shuddered involuntarily.

"Nicely done O'Neill. Take a person's biggest insecurity and throw it in their face. If you're not going to believe me, then I don't see the point of continuing this conversation."

She tried to get up, but a firm pressure on her shoulder shoved her back into the seat. His hand smoothed through her short hair, fisting it lightly between his fingers and tugging her head to the side.

"Tell me, _Colonel_, if you're so sure you're not a Goa'uld, then why do you have this...?"

She cringed as a cool finger touched the burning scar on the back of her neck, dragging leisurely along the tear in the skin.

"Would you STOP it already!" She yelled, pushing her chair back and getting to her feet. She faltered, still unsteady on her own legs.

"Stop what?" He asked mockingly, approaching her at the same rate she was backing away.

"Whatever it is you're trying to do here! I'm not one of your prisoners, and even if I **was** a Goa'uld, I'd still be given certain rights down here on Earth."

"Rights...?" He all but growled, "You forfeited any such rights when you took someone under **my** command, and used her as a host."

"God, I'm talking to a brick wall here! Where's Daniel? Tell him I need to speak with him."

"You think he wants to see you? Nobody at the SGC wants anything to do with a Goa'uld, why do you think I'm the only one who came? Hammond _ordered_ me to do it. I had no choice."

"Then by all means, please leave! I won't tell on you. Promise."

"I'd love to, but I have my orders. I want you out of Carter. Now."

"I don't have much say in it."

"Then you'll end up dead. Both of you."

"They won't do that. Excuse the ego petting, but I'm too valuable to the SGC."

"You think anyone cares how much physics Carter knows? There are tons of geeks willing to take her place. She's expendable."

"_Expendable_! What the hell are they going to do, _wait _until I die?"

"Ah... I take it you've ever been in prison before? No? Well the honeymoon period is almost over. The NID will start off slow, of course. A few random tests, medication in your food and water... you'll know because you'll black out and wake up with an armful of injections. They'll put you in different cells, keep you awake one moment, then hit you with sedatives the next, anything they can think of to throw you off balance, get you talking. Then when they're tired of playing it safe, they'll put you under the knife. Some medical research team will toy with you, looking to make a discovery, and not particularly concerned about whether you live or die. Then one day you just won't wake up."

He watched her eyes fall closed, as if willing herself to stay in control.

"Should have just listened to dad and joined NASA," she said humorlessly, "I could be sitting in a nice little cubicle running test flight simulations instead taking this shit. Now if you're not going to help me, then leave. I've already heard these threats and accusations from the NID, I don't need to hear it from my own people too."

Jack was taken aback by her dispassionate response. He'd be lying if he claimed that this whole messed up situation wasn't making him ache on the inside, every time he looked at her. For one wild moment, he considered the possibility that there was some truth in what she was claiming. What if there was just a fraction of her left that he was able to communicate with?

"I said get out," she told him again, her voice slightly more choked this time.

Ignoring her, he gripped her arm firmly, whirling her around so her body collided lightly against his. Falling into the swirling emotion of her eyes, he fought desperately to find some truth. All he saw was sullen anger, and the sole shred of helplessness she was trying so hard to hide from him. It made him hope, just for a moment, that he was glimpsing the real Sam.

"Carter..." he whispered uncertainly, searching her features, "If you're in there, and you can hear me... I want you to know that I'm not giving up on you."

He released his iron grip on her arm, allowing her the option of retreating if she wished.

She didn't.

Not giving himself time to rethink the idea, he turned his back to the window and tilted himself down to her. Gently brushing the soft corner of her mouth with his own, he felt her gasp against his skin as if willingly parting her lips for him. The thought wasn't something he wanted to dwell on, not until he was sure she was herself again.

"Fight it, Carter. That's an order," he whispered fiercely into the spot where her shoulder met her neck.

Not giving her time to respond, he withdrew, and turned away to leave. He didn't notice the incredulous look Sam Carter wore as she stared after him.

* * *

Poor whumped Sam... it's just going to get a teeny bit more angsty, then I promise it'll lighten up again. I should also make a warning sign for the numerous and colorful plot holes in this story... but I mean really, Carter's a Colonel, so it's pretty obvious that real-world logic isn't too high on this fic's list of priorities. Just don't tell anyone I said that. 


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks so much for all the feedback! Nice to know I'm not the only one reading this fic. -grins-

Chapter 8

* * *

"Incoming wormhole! It's SG2." 

"About damn time. Open the iris, and call O'Neill down to the..." Hammond trailed off as he saw the Colonel in question shove his way past the SFs and into the Gate Room, "Never mind."

Jack stood at the foot of the ramp, arms crossed, and body rigid, like he needed to choke something— or someone— desperately. Wisely, most of the personnel at the SGC had stayed out of his way for the last couple of days. News of what had happened to Colonel Carter had been scarce, owing to the strict need-to-know basis. As a result, people had filled in their own gaps, and none of the theories had placed Jack O'Neill in an innocent light. It didn't help that the place was quite literally falling apart without Sam. They'd had several errors in the dialing computer's sub routines, the iris had malfunctioned twice, and Siler had an eyebrow blown off in a technical mishap.

Jack had been too busy feeling like shit to notice any of it.

"Gimme some good news Major!" He ordered as his friend emerged through the horizon, closely followed by the rest of his team.

"Wait for it," Kawalsky smirked, glancing over his shoulder.

Daniel stepped through the wormhole, but he wasn't alone. A woman walked beside him, her head held high, and her eyes coolly surveying her surroundings. The leather-esque outfit she wore immediately drew the attention of most of the airmen in the Gateroom, but Jack's only response was to scowl.

"I asked for good news... not blow-up Barbie," he muttered, as he noticed length of the woman's skirt.

"It's a long story," Kawalsky replied in defense.

"Oh, I can't wait to hear it. Get your men cleaned up and checked out by Fraiser," Jack said as Hammond came up beside him.

"Jack, General, may I present Anise and Freya, representatives of the Tok'ra high council," Daniel said, sounding very official, and very pleased with himself.

"Welcome to the SGC," the General nodded politely, "I must say, your initial contact came as a surprise to us, but my superiors are eager to establish relations."

"I am glad to hear it. The Tok'ra are most curious about the Tau'ri," she replied neutrally, "I find it remarkable that your people have progressed so far since the reign of Ra."

Jack snorted. Daniel winced. The Tok'ra didn't seem to notice.

"We can discuss that in length, but for now, please escort our guest to the infirmary. Merely a precaution," the General explained.

"That would be acceptable. Anise and I are eager to see your facility," the host responded, her voice regaining its human timbre as she sent a vague smile in Jack's direction.

"Oh...I bet you are, " Jack called after her as she was led away. Daniel had warned him about the whole shared body and voice changing... _thing_. Nothing about it struck him as natural. Hell nothing about the _situation_ struck him as natural. As far as he was concerned, all this had happened far too quickly and conveniently for his liking. One moment they discovered Carter had a Goa'uld, and then the Tok'ra just _happened _to contact them? Of course, the suits at the Pentagon were practically salivating over the opportunity to ally themselves with an technologically advanced alien race, and were more than willing to rush into things with the heads up their collective asses.

"What's wrong, Jack?" Daniel sighed, bracing himself for an arguement.

"You know what's wrong. This whole thing moved too fast, and I don't trust anyone who wears that little clothing," Jack said, failing to keep the whining tone from his voice.

"The Tok'ra are the first friendly race we've come across, and there's a lot at stake for Earth, with Apophis still out there. We need all the help we can get."

"I realize that Daniel," Jack said in annoyance, "But something isn't right here, I can tell. I have instincts."

"Would those be the same instincts that told you Sam was a hook—"

"Daniel! For cryin' out loud, shut up!" Jack yelled, glancing around to make sure nobody had heard that.

The archaeologist grinned, shaking his head, "Just be at the briefing Jack. Nobody's asking you to be the Tok'ra's best friend, just hear them out. Once we tell her about Sam's condition, we'll see whose side she's on."

Daniel grinned and left, not noticing his friend's sudden change in mood. Jack released an unsteady breath, not for the first time that day, remembering Carter. He'd managed to go a whole three minutes without thinking about her, but Daniel had just ruined it. Seeing her like that had been so hard. He'd lost control at the end, giving in to his hope that some part of her was still alive. Really, after all he'd seen in the world, he knew better than to hope for anything. Doing something would get you places, sitting and wishing something into reality was pointless. So he'd lost himself in that moment, leaned into her, tasted her under his lips, like it would magically give him all the answers... and then he'd left. He wasn't sure if any of it had been the right thing to do, but nevertheless, it was done.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he followed Daniel out the Gate room.

Several hours later, significant progress had been made in regards to the alliance. Daniel had painstakingly transcribed almost every word Anise had said onto a series of documents, and Jack had painstakingly doodled smiley faces on over a quarter of them. When that started to bore him, he proceeded to lightly drum the theme tune of The Simpsons on the briefing table, knowing it was driving Daniel nuts. The important part, however, was that they had finally answered the question '_Who are the Tok'ra?_', and had found a common ground.

At least, Jack thought they'd found common ground. Strategies and tactics he understood, but political bullshit he couldn't keep up with. It was a lot of information to take in at once, and Anise and Daniel had been yapping non-stop. Or was it Freya and Daniel? The whole shared body thing hurt his head... but that wasn't the only reason.

"...which brings us to another matter in question," Hammond told Anise, getting ready to launch into explanation, "One of our people was taken recently as host on Chulak; we didn't realize it until the team's return to the SGC."

"Oh, is that so?" Anise asked, in a manner so calm it set off little warning bells in Jack's head.

If Hammond had noticed her reaction, he didn't reveal it, "Our initial attempts to communicate with the Goa'uld in any meaningful sense has been fruitless, since it won't admit its own identity. We're hoping to save the host through a surgical procedure scheduled for later today. Of course, any expertise the Tok'ra have in this matter would no doubt be invaluable."

"Surgical procedure?" Anise's voice hitched slightly.

"They're going to remove the Goa'uld, by putting both into a sleep-like state, making an incision in the rear of the neck and physically removing it," Daniel explained as best he could.

"Such rudimentary techniques will not work!" Anise gasped, her eyes glowing briefly in shock, "You would harm the symbiote and undoubtedly kill the host. You _must _take me to her at once."

"Who said anything about a **_her_**?" Jack asked, his eyes narrowing.

"I... only assumed," the Tok'ra replied evasively.

"I don't buy it. You've been hiding something from the start, and I want to know what it is."

"Jack, we don't have time for this! We need to go to the NID and—"

"Dammit, Daniel, nobody's going anywhere," Jack snapped, knowing the General would tell him to stand down if he disapproved. No such warning came.

"Are you accusing me of something?" Anise asked testily.

"You knew about the Goa'uld didn't you? Why else would you have contacted us in the first place, or even returned here to form an alliance once we'd made it clear that we weren't interested in the blending thing?"

"My purpose here is to meet the Tau'ri and negotiate relations."

"Don't give me that crap. Your people live underground for crying out loud! It's obvious socializing with other worlds isn't high on your list of priorities."

Her head dipped slightly, and when she spoke again, her voice was softer, and conveniently, more humanlike.

"Please Colonel O'Neill, we did not mean you any distress," Freya said, batting her huge cow-brown eyes at him, "The Council thought it best to reveal as little as possible until we were sure of the situation."

"What situation is that, exactly?" Hammond asked tightly.

"It is of little consequence to your people, but it affects the Tok'ra greatly. If it comes to pass that our intelligence it valid, we shall share with you the information. For now, it should not affect the proceedings."

"Proceedings? There won't be any proceedings if you keep evading the topic! How are we supposed to trust you?" Jack exclaimed.

"Then at least allow us to prove ourselves. The life of your friend is now in question, surely you do not wish her to die?"

Jack felt the cold reality of the words hit him hard..

"Could you help her?" Daniel asked tentatively.

"I will do what I can, but we must move quickly."

"General...?" was the only thing Jack managed to splutter, realizing they didn't have much of a choice, not when Carter's life was on the line.

"I'll make the call. In the mean time, you and Dr. Jackson get yourselves to NID headquarters. Let them know the surgery's been cancelled."

* * *

The room had been darkened on purpose, most likely to decreases her sense of awareness... or something. She was done trying to find a logical pattern in what they were doing to her. From all the shots she'd been given in the last hour, she assumed they were getting her prepped for a procedure of some sort. The first round of medication hadn't been so bad, especially since she'd managed to cause some serious damage to two agents. That had earned her the lovely straight jacket she was currently strapped in.. They'd used the stronger stuff this morning realizing, just as she had, that her body chemistry had been altered by the Goa'uld, possibly making her more resistant to the drugs. Then they'd probed at the scar on the back of her neck; she'd never hated anything as intensely in her life. After that, she'd spent a wretched two hours dry heaving, and then passed out only to awake with a killer headache, and double vision. Really, not a great look for her, and she knew it wasn't over. 

"_When they're done playing it safe... some medical team will toy with you, not concerned whether you live or die_..."

O'Neill's words were a mantra in her mind, and did nothing to improve her mood. As far as she was concerned, dying on a table wasn't her idea of going down in glory. If she was honest with herself, the thought terrified her. With the limited knowledge of Goa'uld physiology available, chances are that she wouldn't survive the procedure. Either that, or she'd wake up a paraplegic, which was something she wouldn't contemplate.

Sam hadn't felt this alone in a long time. Hell, she hadn't even heard from the SGC since O'Neill's last visit, which had done little more than leave completely disorientated. Maybe that was the point... but she didn't believe Jack O'Neill had intentionally tried to hurt her. Somehow all the cold-hearted things he'd said to her had fallen by the wayside when he'd kissed her. Well, _kiss_ was perhaps too strong a word. More like a failed attempt to offer her comfort... but he'd ordered her to fight.

"Fight _what_, exactly, O'Neill?" She snorted into the empty room.

As if her words had summoned someone, the heavy doors clanked open, and white light flooded the room. Growling in pain, she screwed her eyes shut as the brightness drowned her senses. She staggered up onto her feet, knowing they'd come for her again. There was not much hope in fighting them off, not for someone encased in a straight jacket.

"Forget about it boys, you can turn back around right now because I can't go through that again. It's too soon," she forced out the words, her voice low and scratchy to her own ears. She backed away from the dark figure walking towards her... or maybe there were two? She couldn't really tell.

"Oh God... Sam?"

"Daniel?" she asked uncertainly.

"Dammit, Jack why didn't you tell me!" He yelled at the other shadowy figure beside him.

"Careful Daniel, not so close," the other voice warned, "Barrett said she got violent with a few of his men."

She almost laughed at that.

"No, Jack... don't even... God, I can't listen to you right now... I'm going to wait outside for Anise and General Hammond," he shot Sam a pitiful look that made her recoil, before shooting out the door.

"Don't mind him. He's just disgusted by a Goa'uld."

Sam's cheeks grew hot at his words, but she remained silent. It had hurt to have Daniel look at her that way then leave, but O'Neill was by far the more cruel. He'd obviously had a lot of experience at being an ass.

"What? No retorts this time? I underestimated the NID, they did good work on you."

He stepped closer, making her back into the wall.

"Hey! Just do us both a favor and keep your distance," Sam warned. The way he stared at her sent chills up her spine, and not in the good way.

Jack smiled, then shrugged casually. He pulled up a seat, straddling it, leaning over the back of the chair, facing her.

"Just thought you should know, we're bringing in a specialist of sorts... a _Tok'ra_. You've heard of them, right? The good-guy versions of your kind? She knows how to extract you. Promised me she'd make it as painful as possible for you, but she'll get Carter out. Betcha _dying _to see how this will turn out. "

"Oh... you have no idea." She replied softly, almost to herself.

Mercifully, he'd shut up after that, settling back to watching her. Once she'd realized he wasn't planning anything sinister, Sam slid down the wall and rested her head on her knees. Any hopes of talking to the man from a few days ago, who'd looked fiercely into her eyes and promised not to give up on her, were lost. She tried to remind herself that he was only doing his job, that he didn't actually understand what was going on. Not that she was too clear on that herself. All she knew was that her body was aching, felt like she was being ripped apart slowly from the inside, and not all of the sensation was physical. Hopefully, this _Tok'ra_ O'Neill had mentioned about would be able to help her. She just really wanted out of this hell; wanted things back to normal.

Sam Carter was anything but naive, of course. At this point, she had no chance of being restored to her position on SG1. She'd been compromised once, and who knew when she may turn on them again? They'd never trust her, not with their flagship team, and if she was honest with herself, she wasn't exactly falling over herself to come back into a command that had hung her out to dry without batting an eyelid. A small part of her almost wanted to wash her hands of the SGC and see how long they could last on their own without blowing themselves to hell. She worked with many capable people, but in all honesty, she was by far the foremost expert on the Gate. No damn way were they going to make the same kind of progress without her.

The thought made her feel a little better.

Suddenly, the door slid open, and when next she opened her eyes she was faced with three more faces. Daniel, Hammond, and...

"I am Anise, of the Tok'ra."

Sam squinted slightly, her eyes adjusting better to the light. The woman before her certainly wasn't what she expected, "Ken couldn't make it, huh?"

"I know of no... _Ken_," she said simply, a puzzled expression appearing on her face.

Sam didn't have the energy to roll her eyes, but silently prayed the woman's IQ was at least as large as her cup size.

"You're here to get the Goa'uld out of me?" Sam asked, not caring if she sounded pathetic.

Anise frowned slightly.

"She has thus far maintained the persona of Colonel Carter," Hammond explained.

Anise shook her head, drawing closer to Sam and crouching down in front of her.

Sam felt a distinctly queasy sensation by the woman's presence. Her eyes widened as she pulled out a disc shaped device that glowed almost immediately.

"Please... I shall not harm you. If I am correct, then your people will owe you a great many apologies," Anise said reassuringly, quickly noting the host's apprehension.

Sam nodded, realizing that there were no better offers on the table, and anything would be preferable to what the NID had planned. Forcing herself to relax, she allowed the dim light to settle over her, and quickly grow into a swirl of beams falling on her, and through her. Strangely, she felt her body relinquish its control, and instead of screaming her head off, she was overcome with a sensation of warmth, and found herself sinking in a gentle darkness.

"Remain still, you are severely injured, and I am attempting to repair you... I regret not coming sooner, but we only recently discovered Rosha's body on Chulak, and when you were not found within her we feared the worst. Had we realized sooner where you were..." the Tok'ra trailed off, somewhat regretfully.

"I am beyond repair, Anise, but you have merely revived me for a moment," the woman said as she rose unsteadily.

If the timbre of her voice hadn't tipped them off, the sudden glow of her eyes would have. She stared evenly at the bewildered group before her.

"Hey! You were supposed to get it OUT of her," Jack bellowed, instinctively withdrawing his sidearm, turning it on both of them, "You know, I distinctly remember saying this was a bad idea. Didn't I say this was a bad idea? Of course I did, but did anyone listen to—"

"Silence, fool! Neither Samantha nor I wish to hear your voice," the woman said harshly, her eyes flashing, "I am Jolinar of Malkshur, a Tok'ra spy acting within the ranks of Apophis."

"A Tok'ra?" Daniel's voice had risen several pitches.

"You're telling me she's one of yours?" Hammond asked Anise, who nodded somberly in return.

"You shall address your concerns to me, old man," Jolinar warned, "I do not posses the restraint my host has shown, and I will not tolerate this humiliation any longer. The Tok'ra council will be appalled when they hear of this treatment. I shall not be surprised if they consider my incarceration an act of aggression, and retaliate accordingly. Now I demand that you remove this ridiculous restraint from me!"

"Of c-course," the General stuttered for what was probably the first time in his life, motioning to a visibly shaken Jack to release Jolinar.

"NOT him," she said with deathly finality in her voice, stopping him in his tracks. All he could do was stare at her, wide-eyed.

"Here, allow me," Daniel jumped in, quickly releasing the buckles at her back, and with the help of Anise, ridding Jolinar of the straight jacket.

"Please... you must understand out initial reaction," the flustered young man tried to explain to her, "We were under the impression that you had taken Sam as a host forcefully."

"I had not truly blended with her at all. Until a moment ago, I was too damaged to even communicate with her, or through her. I was merely residing in her body, trying to survive your brutal treatment!" she stated.

"When you say you weren't communication through her..." Daniel trailed off.

"It was Samantha Carter speaking to you all this time. Not me, and certainly not a Goa'uld," she wavered slightly on her feet, but was held steady by Anise.

"Jolinar, please, we must return you to Vorash. You are weak, and the information you carry is of vital importance," the other Tok'ra urged.

"I know very well how important it is Anise, but I will not be able to make the return journey. I have but a few moments left, and I intend to make them worth something."

"But the healing device—"

"It is too late, and Samantha cannot withstand such strain."

"The life of one can be sacrificed when the life of millions is in question," Anise said quietly, and earnestly.

"There is no need. This host has already displayed a strength of character I have rarely encountered. I have no doubt that she will use the knowledge I pass to her, and bring about the downfall of the System Lords. Sacrificing her life in the impossible attempt to save mine is pointless, we need only her cooperation."

"It shall be a requirement in the alliance with the Tau'ri," Anise agreed.

"Alliance!" Jolinar spat, "With these? Note it to the Council, I will never recommend entering into an agreement with a civilization that tortures their own people. Samantha Carter deserves better."

"With all due respect, ma'am," Hammond interrupted, red faced, "You cannot use her as a bargaining tool in negotiations. Colonel Carter is still an officer at the SGC, and is therefore under my command."

"I believe you withdrew that right when you betrayed her and left her with these _NID_," Jolinar countered, "There is nothing tieing her down to this planet— such a brilliant mind will go to waste in a place like this. Anise, when I am gone, I want you to offer this woman a home with the Tok'ra. I know she was contemplating leaving her people, now she has another option."

"What- _NO_!" Jack blurted automatically, struggling to find a coherent thought in the mess that was going on around him, "Look— she can't leave her command to go gallivanting around the galaxy on some half-assed mission. Her responsibilities are here on Earth."

"Her responsibilities are for her to decide."

"Not while she's still under the command of the Air Force."

"Then she shall leave."

"Or else you'll make her, is that it? You know, I'm not even sure this Tok'ra crap is legit. You're sure as hell sounding like Goa'uld to me."

"We are NOT Goa'uld!"

"Then let Carter make up her own mind. I want to talk to her. Now. Do the little head nodding eye glowy thing."

"Believe me Colonel O'Neill, she has no wish to speak to you. After she almost killed herself saving your life on Chulak, you turned your back on her so easily. You all did, allowing your petulant fears of the Goa'uld to cloud your reasoning and deafen your ears to her."

That had effective shut everyone up. Satisfied with her final speech, Jolinar gave a final nod to Anise, and closed her eyes.

"_Samantha...?"_

"_Hi! Hello... hi..."_

"_I am Jolinar."_

"_Right, the Tok'ra."_

"_You were listening."_

"_Oh yeah, nice to meet you. You know, under normal circumstances, I'd be going out of my mind with panic, but I'm guessing you're the reason why I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy at the moment. Nice work calling Hammond an old man by the way. Really great career move."_

"_I meant no disrespect, and I did not mean to speak on your behalf."_

"_Liar. Though, everything else you said was spot on... you burned O'Neill pretty well."_

"_His actions thus far have proven that he cares little for your welfare. I cannot comprehend why you would have such strong feelings of affection for him."_

"_Hey! I totally, unequivocally, do not even remotely have feel_—_"_

"_That is of little consequence now, Samantha Carter. I have something important to tell you."_

"_I'm all ears. Mind. Whatever."_

"_I do not have much time left, so I shall be brief. I regret taking you as a host without your knowledge or consent, but by now, you must be able to understand my desperation. Had it been only my life in question, I would have gladly died with my previous host, but the information I carry must be given to the High Council at all costs. I was forced to enter another host and disguise myself as a Jaffa. You were my only hope of reaching the Stargate and returning to the Tok'ra... but I was too damaged to communicate with you. Now I finally have the opportunity to disclose vital details concerning a grand summit of the System Lords. With my knowledge, you will coordinate the final strike against all Goa'uld. I realize it is selfish to ask so much of you, but in the little time I have had to know you, I have found you to be an honorable woman."_

"_I thought you said you'd be 'brief'?"_

"_Samantha... please, tell me you will aid my people and pass on the knowledge? I cannot lie, during the process of my death the experience will be painful for you, but I shall try make it as bearable as possible. It is my one request."_

"_I'll do what I can Jolinar, I promise... just don't overwrite me or anything?"_

"_Of course not. I will leave as little as I can, but as much as is relevant. I am growing weaker. Surely you can sense it?"_

"_I can, it feels like you're falling. Crap, can't they do something to help you? Maybe that Anise woman knows_—_"_

"_Samantha, do not try to hold onto me, and do not regret my passing. You have given me peace of mind, it is all that I have wanted. Thank you."_

"No! Wait!"

Her body convulsed violently, sending her crashing into the ground.

"Get a med unit in here, NOW!" Hammond yelled out the door.

"Sam? Sam!" Daniel, who was closest to her, fell to his knees, reaching out, but almost getting struck with a foot in the process.

"Colonel! You're in the custody of the SGC, you're safe," Hammond tried reasoning with her, as she lunged for the exit, only to be stopped by several agents.

"Get off me!" She screamed at them, only to find herself pulled to the floor by someone behind her.

"Carter- get a hold of yourself!" Jack yelled, pinning her shoulders down to the ground and immobilizing her. "Back off, she's okay," he warned everyone.

Her eyes snapped open, her breathing hitched as she gripped his arm almost painfully, "O'Neill?"

"Yeah, it's me. Do you know where you are?" He asked,

"I'm delirious, not stupid..." she screwed her eyes shut, her head so very close to exploding with pain.

"Good, then let's try this again without the hysterics," he suggested to her.

"I'd love to oblige, but... shit, this hurts," she groaned, curling into herself as her limbs shook uncontrollably.

"She's having a seizure," a man in white overalls explained looming over her; Sam recognized him from one of the NID med teams, "We're administering a sedative to—"

"NO! I'm fine," Sam yelled in frustration, making him back away immediately, "Now are you all going to believe me, or are we going to have to import another alien to verify what I'm saying?"

Jack visibly winced at her scathing remark, but then turned to scowl at the med team on her behalf.

"It's under control now," he stated. They didn't move.

"OUT!"

Surprisingly, that yell had come from Daniel, who was so wound up he was about to snap. Wisely, the medics scampered out the door again.

"They're gone," Jack assured her, sliding a hand under her head as she looked up and around. "It's okay now, we'll get you to a—"

"Would you _STOP_ that!" Sam cried, wrenching away.

"What!" Jack asked in frustrated confusion, but made no more moves towards her.

"My neck. Don't touch it," she said with finality that wasn't to be questioned.

Jack couldn't say anything, just swallowed dryly and nodded.

"Is Jolinar still with you?" Anise asked, to_ everyone's_ annoyance.

"Yes... but she can't come to the phone right now," Sam answered tiredly, closing her eyes again, "Crap, she wasn't kidding about how much this would hurt. Feels like my head's... tearing itself up..."

"Do something!" Daniel told Anise desperately.

She looked visibly perplexed, "I cannot. If we move her now, the symbiote will—"

"We don't give a shit about the symbiote! Help her!" Jack ordered, beating back his own rising panic as he noticed Sam's complexion turn dull, and her skin break out in a fresh sheen of sweat.

"I'll make it an order if I have to," Hammond reiterated.

"You do not understand. It is impossible. The voluntary death of a symbiote is as delicate a process as the blending itself. She must remain completely stationary if she is to survive."

"Medication, then!" Daniel suggested, thinking quickly "You must know of some treatment—"

"No!" Sam said suddenly, making everyone jump.

"That's what I was getting at before. I have to be conscious for Jolinar to leave me with the Tok'ra's intel. It's hard enough staying awake with all this shit I already have in my system," she said through clenched teeth.

"Colonel Carter, what exactly do you suggest we do?" Hammond interrupted, visibly concerned, but realizing a decision had to be made.

"Give me some time alone," she sighed simply, "I realize this doesn't look good, but... it's normal. The convulsions usually wouldn't be this severe, but it's harder to control when she's trying to leave an appropriate memory imprint at the same time. They'll go away within the next hour or so, but there's really nothing you can do to help."

Just as she said it, a gentle tingle in her extremities rolled over her, quickly escalating into a wave of tremors.

Jack swore under his breath as the shaking began, "Daniel, help me get her up."

"No... w-wait..." she insisted.

"Forget it Carter. I want you in bed. Now."

Sam tried warning them, but Jack was hearing none of it. From behind, he hooked his elbows beneath her arms, pulling her up, while Daniel gripped her waist firmly. The plan worked fabulously for all of five seconds, but Sam's convulsions started up again much too soon. Her body whipped backwards involuntarily, sending all three crashing into the wall, sliding down, Jack first, and Daniel on top of her, leaving her sandwiched painfully in the middle.

"Threesome Carter? Didn't think you had it in you," Jack muttered, tentatively touching the back of his head where he'd knocked into the wall.

"Hey, O'Neill?"

"Yeah Carter?"

"Shut the hell up. We can do without the inappropriate humor right now... and Daniel— would you get your elbow out of my face?"

"Sorry Sam," Daniel said apologetically, pushing himself up, and seeing his two friends still propped up against the wall, "That wasn't a good idea."

"Ya think?" Jack muttered, his back to the cold hard surface of the wall. He made a move to get up, but Sam was pinned against him, breathing hard and recovering. It didn't look like she was about to move any time soon. Tentatively, he shifted his long legs out the way so Carter could lean against him. She didn't seem to notice their current positions, and he wasn't about to mention aything in case she bit his head off again... which would have been an entirely justified move on her part.

"So can we please try it my way now?" Sam suggested, agitatedly.

"Colonel Carter, you cannot be serious about staying here. It's hardly appropriate for us to leave you in this state," Hammond said, disconcerted.

"Didn't seem to be a problem before," she said, immediately wincing at her own words, "Ugh...Sorry sir, I'm just a little cranky. Being overrun by an alien and going through extreme convulsions will do that to you. Now if you don't mind, I'd rather not go through this in public, so if you give me a couple hours alone, I'll be fine," Sam insisted.

"Very well, you shall remain here... for the moment," the General relented sending Jack quick a look, " I will have our own medical team brought in to transport you back to the SGC when you feel up to it. Several airmen will be posted outside this door; I assure you that the NID are no longer involved."

"Great to know. Tell Barrett I'll miss him," Sam smiled weakly, with more than a little relief.

Hammond nodded, suddenly looking very tired, "Colonel Carter..." he began tentatively, "Sam, in regards to the events over the last few days, I feel that on behalf of the SGC we owe you—"

"Sir, don't say anything."

"I must, Colonel, we made an error in judgment that at least deserves your—"

"No really sir, don't say anything. I want to be able to have my I-told-you-so moment, and right now I'm pretty sure I won't remember any of it."

The General smiled gently, and nodded, "Very well. Dr. Jackson, I need you and SG2 to accompany Anise back to Vorash and debrief the Tok'ra on our situation."

Daniel looked wholly unimpressed for a moment, but the underlying message was clear... with Jolinar's threats fresh in everyone's minds, it was apparent that the young archaeologist was their only hope of salvaging any relations between Earth and the Tok'ra, especially after this incident. If it wasn't handled carefully, it was going to look bad for the SGC, having had a Tok'ra operative die in their custody. Daniel nodded reluctantly. He mumbled a goodbye to Sam, looking too ashamed of himself to do more, then followed Hammond and Anise out the door.

Sam released a sigh of relief, falling back against the warm body behind her. She was glad she was finally alone, to sort out her own thoughts and—

"Carter, you sure you don't—"

"Ahgh!" She jumped a mile high in his arms.

"What? What?" Jack asked perplexed.

Sam swore loudly, her body relaxing against his again, "Shit, I really must be out of it. I forgot you were there."

"I'm holding you. How could you forget that I was there?"

"O'Neill, I wouldn't notice if you were giving me a mind-blowing orgasm, let alone groping me— and why the hell are you still here? Go away."

"Forget about it. I'm not leaving... and I wasn't groping you."

"I said I didn't want..."

She stopped speaking abruptly as a small shock ran through her system. Jack knew immediately what was to follow. On impusle, he wrapped an arm around her waist and across to her opposite shoulder, gripping her tightly into his chest so it became almost painful for the both of them. He felt every little shudder, every spasm as it escalated rapidly until it climaxed in a raw scream torn from the back of her throat. The sound had broken his heart in more ways than he'd thought possible.

"Wow, that was fun. Is it too late to get that shot of morphine?" She asked weakly, as she went limp in her arms.

"GAURD WE NEED SOME—"

"Gah! O'Neill, stop yelling in my ear. I was kidding about that."

"Carter, it's not a great time to joke about fucking anything. God, I don't know if I can go through that again," Jack groaned, feeling her aftershocks rippling through _his_ body.

"See, this is why women are the ones who give birth."

"Dammit, Carter... what did I just say about the jokes? Now please tell me that was the worst of it?" He begged, dropping his forehead against her, and breathing raggedly into her damp skin.

She stiffened slightly, and he pulled back, "Sorry, won't go near the neck," he assured her quickly.

She didn't say anything, and he didn't ask her to. The next two episodes were less violent, but Jack felt them acutely as she dug her nails into his arms, breaking skin. Mercifully, the tremors grew less overpowering, but the constant strain had left her a wreck.

"I think... is it over?" She asked disoriented, shivering a little from the chill in the air.

Jack knew her clothes were damp all the way though, but considering the feverish heat of her body, he figured it was a good thing.

"Yeah, it's over," he said quietly, unaware that he'd begun rocking her gently in his arms.

Sam breathed a deep sigh of relief, dropping her head back onto his shoulder.

"I'm really sorry about all this," she groaned.

Jack would have laughed if he hadn't felt so traumatized. Considering everything he'd been through in his life, he couldn't find an explanation as to why he felt so much of her agony. Apparently she'd broken down whatever mechanism he had in place to stop himself from doing so.

"Carter, there's a very... very long list of people needing to apologize, but you're not one of them. God, when I think about what we did, what **I** did, how I hurt you like that..."

"Shhh... don't want to talk 'bout it." she mumbled, turning her head so that her voice muffled awkwardly into his chest.

"Do you need anything? Just say the word, I'll take care of it. Water? Blanket? Mind-blowing orgasm? Anything?" He asked concerned, pulling her closer, more for his benefit than hers.

"No... don't want to move yet," she said, her voice little more than a whisper.

Feeling the movement of her lips over his shirt silenced him. He nodded in understanding, but knew she hadn't caught the motion. A few moments later, Sam Carter had slipped into unconsciousness, and he was free to leave her. A few moments after that, Jack O'Neill realized he didn't want to.

* * *

Couple of notes:

- That's really not what you're supposed to do when someone's having an actual seizure. In fact, restraining and/or groping them is probably the worst thing you can do. I'm sure you knew that already.

- Turning up the rating to R, just to be safe. Don't hate me!

- I apologize for introducing Anise, I hate her as much as you do, but I promise to make it worth your while.

- I'm done with the whumping, it gets fluffy now, promise.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **I hope the length of this chapter makes up for the lack of updates? It ended up being a little over twenty pages... Anyway, I also wanted to say thanks for reviewing, it's very much appreciated!  
**Content Warning: **Fluff alert, eventually.

**Chapter 9**

* * *

"Sex" 

Janet Fraiser raised a cautious eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"You asked me what my plans were for tonight. That's my answer."

Sam slid off the infirmary bed, stifling a groan as her feet hit the cold floors. All she wanted was to relax, maybe do something spontaneous, and just feel normal again. She hadn't had that in a long time. Considering the mission Jolinar had left her, chances were that she _wouldn't_.

"As your doctor I don't recommend it. As your friend, I'm telling you to have fun, but warn your partner that you're still a little tender," the doctor replied with a small smile, signing off on a few details before handing Sam's medical file to a passing nurse, "So may I ask who the lucky guy is?"

"Don't know yet, but I hope he's cute. Actually, no, I don't really care what he looks like. With the week I've had, I'm not going to be picky," Sam grunted moodily, feeling a dull ache in her muscles as she stretched them. It was painfully clear that her body still wasn't functioning at a hundred-percent capacity, but at least the effect was temporary. Six days laying around in bed while they'd flushed her system of drugs and toxins had done her in. All that was left of Jolinar was a protein marker that, with any luck, would disintegrate over time.

"Well, if you're not being picky, then at least be cautious. I don't want you drinking for at least the next forty-eight hours," Janet warned her, "In fact, I wish you'd consider remaining for observa— "

"Ah! No. I think I've experienced all the _observation_ I can handle with the NID's medics," she replied derisively, not noticing the perturbed look in the other woman's eyes.

Sam was simply too tired to notice anything. All she really wanted to get off base without any dramatics— she'd had enough of that lately, with everyone tripping over themselves to check in on her. Naturally, her mind screamed in question, wondering where all the concern had been when she'd actually **needed** it... but she'd forced her bitterness aside. She had to, especially when everyone was trying so hard.

Daniel was still on the Tok'ra home world, but he'd sent her an adorable little video feed saying how terrible he felt about the whole 'incident'... naturally, she's sent a reply telling him to focus on his mission, and not to worry about her. The NID had issued an **_in_**formal apology; she was debating whether or not to have it framed and mounted in her office. Hammond had expressed himself sincerely, then had regretfully informed her that she'd been relieved of her command of SG1 until further notice. She'd known it would happen, but was comforted by his tone, realizing that the decision hadn't come directly from him. A few days later, Kawalsky had popped in with a bunch of painfully bright yellow carnations. Even Teal'c had showed up in the infirmary with armfuls of jello— apparently some idiot had told him it was a customary Earth ritual in order to cheer the sickly. She'd been forced to eat every bite so as not to offend him.

There was just one last visitor who hadn't bothered to show up, but she knew better than to ask for him. It was getting to be a habit, having Jack O'Neill with her one moment, then gone the next. Her mind had blocked out most of the tormenting details of Jolinar's death, but one thing she was certain of was that he'd stayed with her the entire time. The thought simultaneously disturbed and ashamed her. She hadn't wanted _anyone_ with her, seeing her in a complete and utter mess, but she hadn't had the will to fight him off. Turns out she needed him. She'd needed his heat and his strength, and he'd offered it to so earnestly. Sam absently ran her hands over her shoulders, merely an echo of how she'd felt when he'd held onto her that day, as if both their lives depended on it. It was like he'd felt her anguish right alongside her, and it wasn't something she'd ever experienced before. Nothing she wanted to experience ever again, considering how vulnerable it had left her.

Then he'd disappeared. No dropping in to say hello, or to offer stupid jokes of encouragement. Oh, he was certainly on base, that much was obvious, but he was avoiding her. She knew better than to allow her convoluted emotions to cause her any more pain, but she'd be lying if she said his absence hadn't hurt. They'd shared something that day, she knew it wasn't all in her head. Not that she'd actually venture too deeply into it, given that her career was... well... where did her career stand now? It was a mess. Nobody knew what to do with her, and she didn't know herself.

"Can I ask you something personal?" Janet's voice stirred her from her thoughts.

"Of course, what is it?"

"Are you really planning on leaving the SGC? I don't mean to pry Sam, but I've heard all these rumors... and I guess I wouldn't blame you under the circumstances, but I really wish you wouldn't. I'm so sorry for what happened to you, maybe we'd done more to monitor what the NID were doing—"

"Ah! Janet, don't be ridiculous. This isn't anyone's fault, just a lousy circumstance, mostly... and I'm not going anywhere. I spent two goddamn years in Washington trying to get the Stargate program on its feet. No matter how much I entertain the idea of leaving, I could never go through with it."

The doctor breathed a sigh of relief, surprising Sam.

"You were worried about me leaving?"

"Of course, Sam. Everyone's been concerned for so many reasons... I have it on good authority that Colonel O'Neill is a wreck, and the General got an earful from the joint chiefs for what happened to you."

"You mean what happened to _Jolinar_. They're terrified that what the NID did will hurt future relations with the first alien race we've met that's both friendly _and_ technologically advanced. Hammond knows I'm not going anywhere... but he'll probably send an airman to reign me in tomorrow morning anyway. They always find it more effective to show up at your doorstep," Sam explained, purposely disregarding the line about O'Neill.

Janet nodded thoughtfully, then hesitated slightly before asking, "Do you remember much? Of the Tok'ra's life, I mean?"

"Nothing more than a few images. Faces mostly," Sam admitted, " I'll be joining one of the SG teams to represent Earth in the delegation with the Tok'ra High Council. We'll know more after we speak to them."

"Why wouldn't you be leading your own team?"

"I won't be leading _any _team until they're certain there's no residual consequences from being taken as a host," Sam explained, the strain clear in her voice.

"But SG1 will need a team leader, won't they?"

"I'm guessing they have a replacement lined up already Janet, but there's still a lot that needs to be figured out. I hope you don't mind if we don't get into that right now?" Sam asked with a wry smile.

In truth, there was really no guessing required, since it was painfully clear who her replacement would be: Jack O'Neill. There's nobody else the boys on top would have trusted with their flagship team. Her assumption had been confirmed yesterday when she overheard Siler mention it to one of the techs. Obviously it wasn't official yet, or else Hammond would have informed her personally. O'Neill's position would initially be considered 'temporary', but she realized there was an excellent chance she'd never lead SG1 again.

"I've got to get going... I'll see you tomorrow," Sam said in parting before leaving the infirmary. Her eyes betrayed none of her dispassioned emotion.

* * *

"She **left**? How long ago! Who took her home?" Jack yelled loudly, the tip of his pen digging a deep gash into the new mahogany desk, "Two hours! By _herself_?" 

He resisted the urge the throw the phone against the wall, and settled for slamming it back into the cradle. He had nobody to blame but himself. He'd waited too long, so preoccupied with his own emotions that he hadn't worked up the courage to see her. Now she was gone.

A groan broke out from the back of his throat. He couldn't bring himself to talk to her. He couldn't get her out of his head long enough to try. All he saw when he closed his eyes was the sight of her hurting; all he knew was that he'd been the cause. It was enough to make him sick... hell, it _had _made him sick that first night they'd brought her back to the SGC. He'd seen the toxicology reports the next day. Hadn't understood a damn thing, but he'd recognized some of the chemicals. The NID had obviously known what they were doing, and _he'd_ literally been the one to hand her over to them. Scratch that, he'd hit her, then he'd handed her to them.

"I'm going to hell for this, aren't I?" He asked to nobody in particular, barely noticing the Jaffa that had just entered his office.

"O'Neill. Are you unwell?"

"Hey T," Jack greeted his friend with little enthusiasm, "I'm fine, really. Can't a man throw a little tantrum without there being something_ wrong_?" He continued dejectedly, "Now if you don't mind, I'm trying to brood in peace."

"You feel guilt for what happened to Colonel Carter."

"Guilt? No."

The Jaffa remained silent until Jack couldn't take it any more.

"Fine... You want to discuss my _feelings_? Well Teal'c, it's more than guilt. I've dealt with guilt in the past, and this seems much worse. I have this weird ache in my gut. The kind that keeps a guy awake at night. Gives him this overwhelming desire to throw himself off a bridge just to get it to stop. I hear San Fransisco is lovely this time of year."

"Did you not visit Colonel Carter in the infirmary over the last few days?"

"Not into small talk, huh?"

The Jaffa remained remained quite impassive.

"Okay, no need to get all pushy! I tried to see her Teal'c... I mean I went to her, but only when I knew she'd be sleeping, or partially unconscious... I guess I've got to much to say, and no guts to say it with. Send me on a suicide mission any day, just don't ask me to talk to her, because I'll end up hurting her more than I already have."

"Colonel Carter is a strong warrior, she will recover from her ordeal in time, and will not blame you O'Neill."

"Why wouldn't she blame me? She risked her life to save my ass back on Chulak, and this was how I repaid her? Left her in the hands of the NID when I should have been watching her back. Accused her of hurting my son when I should have thanked her for saving his life. Interrogated and humiliated her when I should have been her friend and trusted her."

He felt a little sick at his own words, hearing it out loud.

"You were unaware of the true situation. I too share the responsibility for what occurred by but she does not resent me for my part in assuming that it was a Goa'uld that had taken her as host. She seemed pleased that I had visited."

"Told you the jello would work. What kind did you get anyway? Because the infirmary has that awful fruity stuff that tastes like it came off someone shoe. Now if you want the really good stuff, you should get Daniel to flash his baby blues a the ladies in the commissary, they totally— "

"O'Neill, do not deflect from the topic at hand," Teal'c said disapprovingly, "Colonel Carter is wise, she will understand if you explain your actions."

"Are you kidding? I don't think 'I'm sorry' would cover this one. I don't even know if she wants to see me, and it's driving me insane! I just wish there was a way to fix this without actually speaking to her."

"It is customary on Chulak, when a man wishes to resolve a dispute with his wife, to presents her a with gift of appreciation."

"She's not my wife."

"No, but she is a woman."

"Right, I noticed," he replied sarcastically, burying his face in his hands.

"Teal'c, can I tell you something?" He said, voice muffled through his long fingers.

"I believe it is a free society, O'Neill."

"No, I mean, I need to talk about something important, and I need a confidant."

"Are you not confident in what you are saying now?"

"I'm talking about the process of confiding in someone, Teal'c. I tell you something, and you agree to keep the conversation between the two of us."

The Jaffa inclined his head in a gesture Jack took to be agreement. The Colonel cleared his throat, and suddenly wondered whether it was a good idea to actually say anything about this. If it was all up in his head, then that's where it would stay, but to actually tell someone else might make it tangible. He wasn't sure if he was ready for that... or for the inevitable court martial he'd be slapped with if anyone found out.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Kawalsky grinned, rapping on the open door before walking into the office.

"O'Neill was about to reveal his confident feelings for Colonel Carter," Teal'c said simply.

Jack stared at the Jaffa slack-jawed, while Kawalsky grinned widely, "Why... Jack you bastard, didn't think you had it in you."

"What part of '_let's keep this between the two of us_' did you not understand, Teal'c!" Jack yelled, throwing a scrunched up ball of paper at his friend, only to have it bounce off his broad chest harmlessly.

"Are the two of us not currently present, O'Neill?" The Jaffa asked simply, tilting his head.

"No need to get all embarrassed Jack. I'm not telling a soul," Kawalsky whispered conspiratorially, "Besides, it's not like you're the only one."

"I'm sure you both find this amusing, but let's get one thing straight here, I do **not** have feelings for... wait, what do you mean I'm not the only one?"

"Well, there's the geeks on level twenty-three are in love with her, the Captain on SG5 has a picture of her stuck up in his locker, the creepy guy from NORAD stalks her sometimes, then there's Airman Fischer, Seargent O'Donnel, Mike from printing, Siler, Major— "

"Wait— _Siler_? I'll kill him!"

"O'Neill, I believe Major Kawalsky's statement was in jest," the Jaffa wisely intervened.

Jack was about to say something, then reconsidered, dropping his head onto the desk with a loud thud.

"I have to see her," his voice was muffled by a disheartening tone, "If she throws me out on my ass, then so be it, but if I don't try then I'll feel like an idiot. I'll beg if that's what she wants."

"Okay, who are you, and what have you done with the real Jack O'Neill?" Kawalsky asked candidly.

"It's all Carter's damn fault. I don't sulk this way, ever, but... she... does something to me."

"Oh, I believe she does it to every male who lays eyes on her," Kawalsky snorted.

"Hey, it's not like that!"

"Sure it isn't Jack... but hey, as long as you're trying to make peace with her, I suggest flowers. Worked like a charm for me."

"What! You gave her flowers? You gave a superior officer _flowers_?"

"No need to be jealous, Colonel. I'll get you some next time," Kawalsky comforted, "Now as much as I'm enjoying this conversation, I didn't just stop by to chat. Hammond wants you in his office before you head home. It sounded pretty important."

"Great..." Jack groaned, considering the possibility of disregarding that order.

"You want me to make up an excuse for you?" Kawalsky offered, "I think the boys used liver infection last week, but diarrhea and erectile dysfunction are still available...?"

"No... I gotta go. I doubt it'll take too long. Whether she wants me there or not, I'm going to be outside Carter's apartment tonight."

"Then see to it that you are, O'Neill," Teal'c said, a small smile on his face.

* * *

Turns out Sam Carter didn't live in an apartment. She lived in a picturesque little house, with a quaint little garden and neighbors who walked their dogs at night. Jack hadn't actually thought of her as the type to settle in a place so homely, but he hadn't really gotten to know the woman under the BDUs. He had no idea what she wanted in life, what her personal goals were, what made her get up in the morning. He decided that it was about time to rectify the situation, assuming she'd speak to him. If she didn't, he could always pull the 'official military business' card. His meeting with Hammond had been brief yet final. Starting from tomorrow, Jack was acting leader of SG1, and would be assuming all of Carter's command duties until she was cleared to return. He figured she may be a little annoyed with him, but as long as she found out the right way, and he made it clear that this was just temporary, he stood a good chance of walking out of the conversation with his limbs still intact. 

Ambling up the few stairs to her door, he cleared his mind, rolling his shoulders back in an attempt to relax. Holding the small brown package he carried close to his body, he knocked purposefully on the door.

No answer.

He tried again.

Still no answer.

"Ah, doorbell," he berated himself, pumping the round white button several times.

A few moments later, the door flung open.

"Yeah, what?" The young man asked, flushed and impatient.

Jack sized him up in a moment. He was probably in his late twenties, blond. Very blond. And shirtless. Very, very shirtless. His features came complete with a straight nose, high cheekbones, and eyelashes that were obscenely long for a guy.

"Sorry. Wrong number," Jack explained, glancing down at the address scrawled on the palm of his hand, "Does Sam Carter live on this street?"

"Samantha? You got the right place, but she's um... unavailable," naked-chest-man said carefully.

Jack's eyes widened, "And who the_ hell _are you?"

"Daryl."

"Daryl... _who_?"

"Uh, look man, Sam and I like just ran into each other at a bar. She didn't tell me she was involved with anyone else, so if I'm like in the middle of something here then..."

"No, no!" Jack said, kicking himself inwardly and plastering a smile on his face. "Of course not. I apologize for interrupting."

"Sure thing, man. I'll like tell her you stopped by."

"That would be great, thank you. The name's Jack O'Neill," he explained, then on impulse stretched out a hand to stop the closing door, "You know, before I leave I just have to say that I'm so glad Sam's getting out and having fun again... after everything that's happened, it's good to see. Well...hope you kids have fun!"

Jack turned to leave, then smiled when the other man predictably called out to him, "Hey wait! What do you mean? What happened to her?"

"Oh, you know, just about what Samuel... I mean, _Samantha,_ went through." Jack's voice lowered to a hushed tone, causing Daryl to lean in curiously, "I'm telling ya, after the breast implants it took him a while to get the hang of bras...but don't worry, everything is in working order now, except for that little... oh, you're better off not knowing,"

The big dull eyes widened tremendously at him. Jack really couldn't judge what color they were... somewhere between hazel and cow dung.

"Huh... she... b-breasts...?" Daryl stammered.

"Yeah. About a year ago, that's when he started the whole sex change thing. I honestly thought it was a phase, but it's good to see him sticking with something. Sam can be so fickle," Jack sighed, shaking his head absently.

"You're telling me she's... he's... Sam's like a... a... _dude_?" Daryl whispered alarmed. He glanced back into the house, his golden locks flailing about as if they were just as distressed as he was.

"Oh..." Jack feigned surprise, "You never got down to..."

"No, man, we were just fooling around in bed... shit, are you sure? She's like so gorgeous..."

"A little **too **gorgeous wouldn't you say? It's amazing what plastic can do these days. Y'know, I told her not to go for the pouty lips, but Sam's always been the perfectionist."

"I-I have to ... Tell her... him... sorry, I h-have to leave!"

Jack smiled serenely as the half naked blond man frantically snatched his shirt off the back of the couch and dove for the exit, before turning around abruptly at the doorway. Their positions reversed from their initial meeting.

"Look..." he began uncertainly, "I feel like scum for just ditching Sam like this... but I mean really, you're supposed to TELL someone these things before you take 'em home with you, you know? It's not that I have anything _against_... it's just that I'm not like..."

"I'll let Sam know," Jack interjected, certain the young man's head was going to explode with all this information. He didn't want Sam having to scrub brain out of her carpet for the next three weeks.

"Are you sure? I'd really appreciate it if you'd explain—"

"Think nothing of it! I mean it, kid. Don't think of Sam again, or call to apologize, or even drive by this house on a whim, because that'll just upset everyone. Anyway, nice meeting you, Dick."

"It's Daryl."

"Right."

Slamming the door shut in the surprised face gave him a grim satisfaction. Jack's jaw was clenched so hard he swore he would crack his teeth, but he didn't move. He couldn't move. Somehow he knew if he did, he'd end up outside, ramming that idiot's head a wall. Repeatedly. Then what would Carter say?

"Shit. She's going to be thrilled with you now, O'Neill," he muttered to himself. He realized he had no claim on her, and therefore, no right to feel this kind of anger at the thought of her being with another man. Jack scoffed. The _boy_ he'd tossed out the door was hardly what he'd call a man... but then, maybe Carter liked 'em young and impressionable with a body that had been produced in a gym, not in combat. The thought was giving him a headache. He knew he was taking this all too personally, but he didn't seem able to stop.

"CARTER!" He all but roared for her, a bitter edge of longing in his voice. He received no answer.

Flinging the small package he'd been carrying onto the couch, he wandered further into the house, finding the door to the first room slightly ajar. He wanted so desperately to see her that he didn't think twice about easing it open and peering inside.

"Carter... you in here?" He whispered into the darkness.

The gentle sounds of breathing filtered through the air, and he allowed his eyes a moment to adjust to the lack of light before slipping into the room. What he saw was enough to sear the anger from his body, and knock the breath out of his lungs... had he the mental presence to inhale in the first place.

She lay stretched out languidly on the bed, soft sheets wrapped themselves carelessly around her body as if trying to hold onto her. Jack caught brief glimpse of pale gold skin as his eyes drifted involuntarily over the curve of her back. Her arm tucked snugly under her head, her short strands of hair falling softly across her face. Jack had never been the kind of guy to envision a term like _angelic_, so the fact that he was even considering using the word was a sign that he was in a shitload of trouble.

Belatedly, he realized he shouldn't have just walked into her home, especially when he knew who her company had been... but in his single-minded purpose to find her, he hadn't even contemplated what state he'd find her in. Well no, actually he'd planned it all out thoroughly in his head on the drive over here. She was supposed to be in a sweat shirt and jeans, maybe sitting at a computer, or catching up on all that reading that smart people like her did. Then he'd knock on her door, she'd ask him what he wanted, they'd yell, throw things, then she'd forgive him, and if he was lucky, they'd have some really incredible, guilt-ridden sex.

Well, who was he kidding? In the entire time he'd known her, when had things** ever **go according to plan? Finding himself even more frustrated at the stupidity of the situation he was in, Jack wrenched himself away, turning face-first into the door that had closed behind him. Stumbling back with a suppressed yelp, he ended up jarring his elbow into a piece of furniture, making an obscene amount of noise.

Jack swore under his breath. He was pretty sure walking into things in the dark was something they suggested** not** doing in Stealth 101. He'd navigated his way out of aggressive terrain countless times, but he couldn't get out of a _bedroom_ without making enough racket to wake the dead?

Jack made another attempt to leave, but a soft moan from behind suddenly froze him in his tracks. The sound was soon accompanied by a rustle of sheets which instantly sent him into sheer blind panic, another thing they told you not to do in Stealth 101. He groped wildly in the darkness for the door handle, pulling against it frantically. It was locked. The short and desperate breaths of his lungs were matched only by the erratic pounding of his heart, telling him to get the hell out of there before—

"Going somewhere...?"

Jack nearly jumped out of his skin as two small hands reached around his waist. He'd forgotten that Carter also had stealth training, and with her light frame and quick movements, she would always have the supreme advantage in a target ambush.

''I must have dozed off, I'm sorry... I'll make it up to you..." she said, nimble fingers undoing his front buttons in a matter of seconds, dragging the shirt down and away. Jack gasped as his bare skin was exposed to the cool air. It lasted only moment before warmth and silk spilled over his back, and a lithe body pressed against his. At this point, his brain was screaming at his feet to move, but the message just wasn't getting through. He felt himself respond almost immediately to her when she breathed in his scent, and sighed audibly against his skin.

Jack was about to stop her. Really, he was. Yep, any moment now, he was going to... to...

"Nnnghnn..." his voice was low and guttural in response to her attentions. Moist lips glossed over his shoulder blade, excruciatingly slowly, before traveling back up to the shell of his ear and blowing soothingly. Obviously he knew he was going to be in shit for this, but it really couldn't get much worse.

"Take me to bed? We can do whatever you want...please..."

Jack's body jerked at her words, and his head just about exploded as he processed what she was asking him. _Asking _was hardly what she was doing, as she began nuzzling him between his shoulder blades, her arms hooking low around his waist. She was begging. The thought was too much for him to process. He'd never dreamed that he'd hear her say something like that, something which placed her in an obvious role of vulnerability. Sam Carter was a woman who was always in control even when she wasn't; it stunned him to discover how willing and pliable she would allow herself to be when it came to intimacy. It almost didn't seem like her.

"Car...uhhhnn..." Her name died on his lips as her hands toyed more purposefully, smoothing across the planes of his chest.

"Car?" She said almost indignantly, "Let's get one thing straight here, when you're with me you better not be thinking of anything else _but_ me."

Jack was pretty certain he had that covered. In fact, he doubted if he'd ever think of anything else besides her for the rest of his life. The woman wrapped around him certainly didn't believe he'd learned his lesson though. In a move he considered infinitely more Carter-like, she spun him around, ensuring that his back slammed painfully into the door.

Jack groaned out loud at the heat running up his spine, and he knew his heart had stopped beating in that moment. He was certain the game was over, but to his pure relief and utter torment, she was nowhere close to focusing on his face. Jack couldn't help but smile and moan simultaneously as her hands dug into his hips and her taut body pressed against his almost demandingly. This was more like what he'd expected. Carter getting what she needed, never asking, just taking. Knowing he wouldn't get this opportunity again, he stole a glance downward. It had been a mistake... he couldn't think of anything more gorgeous than the woman in front of him. Flushed and needy, wearing the type sleek black little thing he could dream of her in, and the most incredible part was that she hadn't stopped touching him for a second. He sucked in his breath audibly when she diverted her attentions, her tongue dipping low into the hollow of his neck, her soft sighs of pleasure escalated as she began exploring more of him. Her fingertips scraped over his torso, lightly at first, then hard enough to make him bite back a yelp. He knew he'd have several interesting abrasions in the morning, but he also knew he'd admire every single one.

"I love the way you feel," she whispered airily to him.

His breath caught in his lungs at the sound of her voice, clearing away some of the dreamlike fog. This wasn't real, was it? It couldn't be real, because nothing that felt this incredible _could_ be real.

"Fuck..." he muttered under his breath, knowing he had to stop her or she'd never forgive him. He took solace in the fact that he hadn't allowed himself to touch her, not once,

"We're getting there. You've been eager all night, just be patient for a change," she smiled against him so he could actually feel the curve of her lips against his skin.

In that moment, it became agonizingly clear that she wasn't doing this for him. Hell she wasn't even _thinking _of him right now! In her head, she was with some random _stranger _she'd met at a bar. The thought was enough to make him ache in places he never knew existed.

"Carter- **_stop_**!" He pleaded forcefully, with whatever energy he had left in his wired body.

Passion glazed eyes looked up into his, quickly losing their warmth, and widening in shock.

"_O'NEILL!_"

"Wait! Before you do anything hysterical, you have to understand that there is a perfectly reasonable--"

"_Reasonable_?"

"Yes! See, I got a little visit from Teal'c— who, by the way, doesn't know the meaning of the word confidant— and we talk about you, then Kawalsky wandered into the conversation—"

"What are you _doing _here!" Her arm crossed in front of her defensively, her stance clearly indicating how rattled she was.

"I'm getting there Carter! I just figured I should stop by, say hello, explain what—"

"OUT!" She all but screeched, somewhere between rage and mortification.

"Okay... okay, I'm gone!" Jack assured, "That's what I was **trying** to do in the first place but the door's locked and I can't get out," he explained, tugging again at the handle savagely to prove a point.

"That would be because it opens outwards!" She snapped, throwing open the door, and giving him a helpful shove.

Jack stumbled out of the room, and into the lit hallway, while Sam frantically snatched up her clothing off the back of a chair.

"Wait! Where do you think you're going?" She asked bewildered, still pulling up her sweats as she saw him heading out the front.

"Leaving," Jack said carefully, his hand still braced at the door. He was really starting to hate doors.

"Leaving? You can't just _leave! _What's wrong with you?" She argued, clearly distraught, running her fingers through her messed hair and trying to regain a semblance of dignity.

"You told me to!" Jack yelled back in defense.

She looked at him blankly, "Oh, so **_now_ **you start doing what I tell you to do? When did this start?"

"Carter, do you want me to leave or not!" Jack asked in frustration, more so because he was battling with his own desires at that moment. It didn't help that he was wearing nothing but jeans.

"Yes! No. I don't know..." she fumbled, "Wait right there," she ducked into her bedroom again and was out a second later.

"Your shirt. I may have popped a few buttons..."

Jack reached out tentatively to receive the balled up piece of clothing she'd thrust towards him. He made painstakingly certain not to brush his fingers over hers as he did.

"I'm so sorry!" she blurted out suddenly, taking a few steps closer; he instinctively backed away and stared at her warily, uncertain of how to respond to that.

"For what?" He asked, throwing his shirt back on and intentionally avoiding eye contact.

"You came looking for me, and I _jumped _you! I didn't know it was you! I don't usually act that way you know... I mean, I don't throw myself at... at... well, I guess sometimes I do, but it's more interesting that way, I think. Shit, and the door thing?" She was rambling through her nerves, and didn't know quite how to stop, "I hope you're not bruised? I didn't mean to hurt you. I realize that's what it looked like I was doing, but I like exciting sex as much as the next woman. Not that I'm into anything weird. But hey, there's nothing wrong with weird. If you were into anything weird, I would have no problem with that. You should totally do what you're comfortable with. Personally, I like experimenting when the right opportunity comes along. This one time in college I got tied up with—"

"CARTER! For fuck's sake, stop speaking!" He yelled at her, not out of anger but out of utter desperation. The truth was that his arousal was only getting more painful with the images she was putting in his head. He didn't know if he could handle it.

She turned into the proverbial deer in headlights, but Jack sure as hell wasn't the one in the driver's seat. His eyes fell closed as he tried to relax his body and clear his thoughts. If didn't, then he'd have to excuse himself and ask to use her bathroom to deal with his problem. That was too humiliating to even consider. A few moments later, he thought that he had things under control... and Sam looked like she'd just processed the smattering of words that had fallen from her mouth.

"Please, tell me I didn't say that all out loud?" She groaned.

Jack managed a faltering smile at her, "Don't worry about it."

"Shit, I'm so sorry about all this. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Carter, relax! This is all wrong,** I'm** the one who's supposed to be apologizing here, so stop this. You weren't in any danger of deflowering me... though, you may have ruined me for other women," he admitted ruefully.

"God," she groaned, falling back against the wall and hiding her face in her hands. When she didn't move from her position, he grew more anxious, wondering what had distressed her.

"Hey...is there something else? What's wrong? Tell me?" He asked, pulling her arms out the way so she couldn't hide. His hands cradled her face, giving her no choice but to look up at him.

"I was so afraid you'd report this," she said after a few unstable breaths, "I don't think my career can survive something like that. Not after everything that's happened. Then again considering events of late, I guess it doesn't really make a difference."

It took him a moment to follow her completely insane logic, but by the time he'd caught up to her, his hands had dropped away and he was scowling.

"Dammit, Carter!" He barely held his temper in check, hurt that her opinion of him was that low, "No matter what you may think of me, you have to know that I wouldn't do that to you. When I came here tonight, I was going to—"

"Oh my God! Where did he go?" She asked, looking around as if suddenly realizing she'd forgotten something.

"Who?"

"Who the hell do you think? My date!"

"Your _date_?" Jack scoffed, a derisive edge creeping into his voice, "You mean the guy you picked up at a bar, and brought home to fuck for a night?"

Her eyes narrowed, "Not that it's any of your business, but David and I had a connection that you couldn't even begin to—"

"His name was DARYL!" Jack yelled at her.

Sam blinked skeptically, "Are you sure?"

"YES! I may not have planned on sleeping with him, but I did recall his name," Jack snapped, "God, Carter, I'd hate to be the man who falls in love with you. The idiot would be in for a life of misery and incorrect name-calling."

"This wasn't about that, I made it clear to him before starting anything, not that it's any of your business," Sam argued defensively.

"Couldn't have been that great if you fell asleep on him."

She blushed lightly, "I was tired."

"You think he would have cared? He came here for one reason, and I doubt he'd have left without it if I hadn't come along."

"Oh really? Well in that case I guess I should be_ thanking _you for saving me from a night of uncomplicated sex with a really good looking guy. _Whew_- dodged a close one there, didn't I?" She said, her words heavily drenched in sarcasm.

"Carter, how the hell could you be attracted to someone like _that_? I expected you to have better standards— or **any **for that matter!"

"I'm not having this discussion, it's got nothing to do with you! Now you've just ruined my evening, isn't that enough?"

"Relax. I'm pretty sure there's a 1800-number you can call for the same service. You know what? I'll foot the bill if it makes you feel better."

Sam's hands fisted at her sides and she forced herself not to throw a punch at him. That wouldn't have been healthy, for either of them.

"So this is how it's going to be like between us now O'Neill?" She asked, the rage seeping out of her eyes, and disappointment creeping in.

"Like **what **Carter?" He asked her dispassionately, "How did you expect me to react? I haven't slept in a week, I drive myself fucking crazy thinking about you, I come here to see you, to beg and to grovel, and instead I find... _Daryl_."

"Well I apologize for making this so hard on you," she said icily, "I... I needed someone tonight. I'm sorry if you find that distasteful."

Jack bit back a reply, and groaned inwardly. He'd come here to make peace with her, not to show her how much of a complete bastard he could be.

"I don't... I didn't mean it that way. You should have come to me, or Daniel."

She looked at him wryly, "Not for what I was after. I find both you and Daniel incredibly attractive men, but he's married, and I work with you, so you see the problem."

"You think I'm incredibly attractive? Wait... you think _Daniel _is incredibly attractive!"

"Ugh..." she rolled her eyes, "O'Neill, what were you doing here in the first place? Besides scaring off Darren."

"Daryl."

"You're making me feel slutty for not remembering this guy's name. You know, he wouldn't have remembered mine in the morning either."

"Are you kidding? He probably would have engraved it on his skate board, then tattooed it across that rippled chest of his."

"He did have a great chest," she nodded in agreement.

"CARTER!" Jack roared.

"What?" She asked, cautiously adding a hint of innocence in her tone, as if testing the waters.

"I'm here for a reason, and believe it or not, it didn't involve picking a fight with you," He explained, "I wanted to see you. I missed you."

"I was in the infirmary for six days. You didn't think I was worth your time then, so why now?"

He looked at her perplexed, "You thought that... dammit Carter, I **did** see you! Not when you were awake, but I was watching you..." he cringed at his own words, "That didn't sound as creepy in my head."

She wore a less than impressed look, "I get it. You feel bad, you wanted to _apologize_. Well It's a little late now, so don't bother. I'm over it."

"No, you're not. I regret not coming to you sooner, not speaking to you about what happened, and I have no excuse for it. It was cowardly, and I'm sorry. However, I won't let you sweep this all under the rug and pretend to forget about it."

"What do you want me to do!"

"Yell at me, tell me the truth! I hurt you, and the thought is screwing with my mind. I just want you to hurt me back so we can be even."

"_Even_? We're not twelve, O'Neill," she shook her head, but seeing as how he wasn't backing down, she decided he could use a dose of reality, "You want the truth, here it is. I hate what you did to me. The way you looked at me, talked to me, touched me, like I was worth little more than gum under your shoe. I thought you'd be there to bail me out, but nobody from the SGC came for me. You let the NID drug me into oblivion, and then you came back to throw it all in my face. I went all the way to the edge, and when I fell, nobody was around to get me back on my feet. The SGC let me down, and so did you."

"Carter, I..."

"I'm not done," she said coolly, noting with satisfaction that O'Neill looked like he was going to throw up, "Now, while I may have gone through my own private hell, I do realize you all did what you thought was in the best interests of Earth. Well, most of you did. If I'd been in your shoes... chances are I'd have done the same thing."

"Exactly! I really needed you to know that everything I did was directed at the Goa'uld, not you," he said in earnest.

She looked up at him skeptically, "What you said about me not being a good soldier..."

"Bullshit! I want you to disregard everything I said, everything I did that day. I knew what I was doing, and I said it all on purpose, knowing it would hurt you. Or the Goa'uld. God, I'm not even sure why I said it in the first place! Why the hell should it matter? You've never needed someone to validate your contribution to the SGC before. Don't let it start with me. I swear I never meant to hurt you Carter... I'm sorry that I did."

She nodded slowly, staring unfocused at the ground.

"I appreciate the apology."

"Then why won't you look at me?" He asked disheartened.

"I'm going to need some time to deal with this, w_ithout_ you, or anyone else breathing down my neck."

"I thought I was helping you."

"Well the next time you get the urge to_ help_ me, don't," she muttered, "Not that there's going to be a next time."

"What are you talking about?"

"I believe congratulations are in order. You made team leader of SG1."

She did look at him then, and Jack cringed, "How did you find out?"

"You were the obvious choice... but I guess Siler confirmed it."

"Siler! I'll _kill _him. You weren't supposed to hear it that way Carter, hell I only found out an hour ago. Hammond would have informed you himself, but you left without checking in with him."

"And you were only too happy to jump right in."

"It's only temporary! You had to know that until this Tok'ra thing is resolved, it's safer for you to take the backseat on a few missions."

"Because they don't trust me."

"It's not a question of trust, it's a matter of caution. Whatever agenda the suits on top may have, this is still the smartest thing to do. If it had happened to anyone else they'd have followed the same procedures... so you can stop feeling like there was a personal vendetta against you, because there wasn't."

Sam held still, absorbing the full impact of his words. Truthfully, she was surprised that he hadn't tried to dodge the accusation or sugar-coat the answer... but it hadn't made it any easier for her to hear. Turning abruptly, she made her way to the lounge, falling into the plush cushions that seemed to offer a little comfort. She'd left him standing in the hallway; the choice she'd given him had been clear. Stay or go. It seemed pretty simple on the surface... but she couldn't help but feel monumentally relieved when she heard his soft footfalls coming up behind her. She hadn't realized how much she wanted him with her. To talk to her. He'd left once before, bailed when things got too emotional for him, but he'd apologized for it. Suddenly, all she wanted to do was make sure he never ditched her again, but she had no clue how to do it.

"I didn't mean it to come out that bluntly," he explained.

"No...I think I needed to hear that. I take it you practiced the speech?" She commented, as he finally took a seat beside her.

"Several times, yes," he admitted, stretching his long legsout in front of him, "So are we good, Carter? Burying the spade and all that?"

"The hatchet."

"What?"

"It's burying the hatchet."

"I don't have a hatchet."

"_Must _you go out of your way to annoy me?"

"Will it make you smile at me?"

"You've done nothing but make my life miserable. Why would I smile at you? Of all the egotistical, self-involved..."

"I brought you ice-cream!"

Sam looked at him blankly. "What?"

"Ice-cream, Carter.Teal'c said that on Chulak it was customary for a man to bring his wife a present when he wanted to ask forgiveness."

"Oh good, so the sleepless hours spent scrawling _'Mrs. O'Neill'_ in my journal haven't been for nothing," she said dryly.

"I tossed on the seat when I came in..." he ignored her remark, searching instead for his peace offering, "Oh look, it's right here!"

Jack picked up the package not noticing that since the time he'd hurled it there, it had melted and oozed its way out of it's confinement. The result was a sticky chocolatey mess on the once-spotless upholstery.

"I'll... pay to have that cleaned," he said carefully.

"Oh yes you will," Sam agreed, surveying the mess he'd made with little reaction, "I just have one question O'Neill, and I'm going on the assumption that you have a rudimentary knowledge of the changing states of matter..."

"What?" He asked absently, sucking at his thumb where the sticky sweetness had seeped, not noticing the effect it his action had on Sam.

She managed to divert her eyes before she gave herself away by blushing, "Ice-cream cold. Cold things melt when warm," she explained shortly, "So why... _why_ didn't you just toss it in the freezer instead of punishing my furniture?"

Jack had the decency to look sheepish before answering, "I may have been a little distracted by your prior _company_."

Sam couldn't help but laugh at the sulking tone that had entered his voice.

"Jealous, O'Neill?"

"Hardly, Carter."

"Riiight," she said, almost mesmerized at how his lower lip had protruded slightly in a disgruntled pout. Sam found herself reluctantly admitting that she was absurdly attracted to him. Jack O'Neill, the guy who was the cause of her frequent migraines, was also someone she really wanted at the moment. The forgettable half hour she'd spent with Dean had been nothing compared to the heated seconds it had taken to strip O'Neills shirt off and explore his willing body. It had been exactly what she'd needed all day, and she knew he could give it to her. She was so tired of waiting...

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked indignantly, but immediately regretted his words when he saw a predatory glisten in her eyes.

"It means you couldn't stand the thought of someone else being with me," she said huskily, "Usually I'd find it obnoxious, but I guess it's to be expected. Possessiveness is a common trait in guys like you."

Jack didn't like her analysis of him, he didn't like her tone, and he really didn't like the way she leaned over to him. Her eyes were focused contently on his lips, like she owned them, and was just biding her time until the inevitable. Jack forced himself to look away. He'd just gotten over his encounter in her bedroom, and having her stare at him that was certainly wasn't helping.

"You're insane, Carter. Were you drinking before I arrived?" He already knew the answer to that question, but he couldn't think of another valid reason for her to be doing this.

"Nope," she smiled, bracing her hands on either side of his head and using it as leverage to hold her body inches away from his.

"Then what's this about?" He asked, foolishly intoxicated by her scent and proximity, but innately understanding that she wasn't thinking straight.

"I've just realized that if I can't the things I want, then I might as well have the things right in front of me."

"You've been through a lot lately, Carter. You don't really know what you want... and you certainly don't realize what's in front of you," Jack said intensely, making a move to get up.

She didn't let him, choosing instead to descend her weight over his hips so they were locked together with her straddled above him. His sharp intake of breath was loud in the room; their eyes met in a duel of wills, hers playful, his resolute.

"You're so turned on... and you haven't even touched me yet," she remarked blithely.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jack replied. His tone was cool and neutral, but his skin burned wherever it was in contact with hers.

"C'mon O'Neill, you've wanted me the moment you saw me. You still do," she insisted, her eyes raking down his body and landing on something Jack _really_ didn't want her noticing.

"I don't know what's gotten into you Colonel, but I suggest you stand down or I might take you up on this little game you're playing," he warned, hoping to call her on her bluff.

"I was counting on it," She said, looking down at him as her hand drifted south. He gripped her wrist tightly, but she didn't seem to particularly notice, or care.

Jack swore loudly, shooting up to his feet and almost knocking her over in the process.

"What the hell is this about?" He growled sharply, but lost a bit of his venom when he realized she was staring at him in disarray.

"I figured it was painfully obvious," she said like it was common knowledge.

"Huh?" Jack asked, pacing. He never paced.

"You want me, O'Neill. I'm right here, what's the problem?"

He ground to a halt, staring at her wide-eyed.

"That's irrelevant! If I wanted cake, it doesn't mean I go out and have cake every time I get the urge!"

"An urge? Well thanks..."

"I didn't mean that you were an... urge..." His voice hitched, "I don't understand. Before, you were mortified by all this, and now you're doing it on purpose? What's changed?"

"I was surprised the first time, didn't know it was you, that's all. For the record, you didn't exactly go out of your way to try and stop me then; in fact, from where I was standing it seemed like you were enjoying yourself. Obviously I wouldn't be doing this if I thought you'd report it."

"So it's fine as long as nobody knows? That's your grand plan?"

"You don't have to be so condescending about it. Don't tell me the thought hasn't crossed your mind?" She retorted.

"It hasn't!" He denied futilely, even as his eyes trailed down to her mouth, continuing by their own volition past the slope of her neck, and the soft curves of her body.

Sam rolled her eyes, "You're a guy, O'Neill. You practically have it encoded in the subroutines of your brain to have as much sex as possible before the machinery stops working."

He cringed at that, "First of all, my machinery never stops working, secondly, what's up with the degrading view of men, Carter? Who hurt you enough to make you this cynical? Your ex-husband?" He accused.

"That's none of your business, but while we're on the subject... what about you? Could it be, that the reason why you're so uncomfortable with this is because the last woman you loved never desired you _that _way?"

"I've been with women since Sara," he shot back.

"I'm not talking about sex, I'm talking about a relationship."

"Which is certainly not what you're after!"

"I never said I was! I just want you for tonight, the textbook male fantasy, what's the problem here?"

"For starters? You've thrown me in a category with men who you have absolutely no respect for. I know I've hurt you, but don't I don't deserve that. I'm not in the habit of jumping every woman who looks my way, especially not a woman who I actually care about."

"This coming from the man who perfectly willing when he thought I was a hooker?"

"That was different!"

"Why?"

"Because... Carter... it was _you_," he explained inadequetly, falling into the seat beside her again. A little further away this time.

"Great explanation."

"Colonel!" He growled, his frustration exploding, but it didn't seem to affect her, "Did you miss the class where they explained to cadets that fucking each other was a no-no?"

"It's not like the Air Force has done much for me lately O'Neill, and now that I think about it, there's nothing more I could possibly do to make things worse."

"And you figured I'd go along with it just because I could use a quick lay? If anything, tonight has made me even more convinced that whatever potential existed between us wouldn't be a risk worth pursuing. You're obviously not looking for anything real, and I for one don't want to blow my life on someone who will be out the door before I wake up in the morning." He yelled at her.

"I don't..." she began irritatedly, "I didn't.. think..."

"No you didn't think... you didn't think about how this would effect anyone, not even yourself! What happened to the woman who cared about her career more than anything else in the world? You sure you don't still have a snake in your head, because you're not sounding like the Carter I know," he'd snapped before he'd had half a chance to stop himself.

The accusation hung heavily in the air, suffocating whatever had been building between them. Jack seemed almost as shocked as she was, and realizing that no apology could soothe the sting of his words, he took advantage of her motionless state, and slipped a hand through her hair, tugging her down into a kiss.

Sam didn't even have time to back away as his lips met hers, opening and reeling at the floodgates of emotion he'd unleashed. Reluctance and fear caused her to pull away, but his desperation and regret had made his hold tighten on her.

A hand shot out to his chest, but Jack gripped it with his own, their linked fingers trapped between their bodies. Sensing her rising unease, he'd forced himself to slow down, cupping her cheek, tilting her face upwards and tentatively seeking permission for something that was already in progress.

Sam hadn't been prepared for him, but it seemed futile to try and resist when his tongue was stroking and flicking against hers, forcing her to match his intensity or be left behind. The moan that escaped her hadn't been one of pleasure, but a result of the aching desire in her heart. She hadn't planned on feeling this much emotion for him. In some way, she must have known it would be like this, that's why she'd hidden behind the game she'd been drawing him into. She'd hurt him through her assumption that he was just after one thing, and he'd hurt her right back, using her own insecurities against her. The kiss they were sharing may have been deep and profound, but it was born of guilt and nothing more.

As if sensing the other had something to say, they broke apart.

"I didn't mean what I just said. It came out of nowhere," He said brokenly.

"I know," she said, still trying to catch her breath, "For what it's worth, you're probably right."

"Finally..." Jack said with relief, interlinking his fingers around her back, and allowing her to lean against them, "What am I right about?"

She smiled, her fingertips playing at his lips; she swore she could still feel them hard and hot against her mouth. Somehow, in all this mess, he'd become so incredibly important to her, and she hadn't been treating him fairly. She had to make him understand. He'd made it clear he wasn't willing to land himself in a compromising position, and that's exactly what they were doing to each other. Well she wouldn't put him through it any more.

"You were right about me. If I'm not acting like myself, then the reason is because I don't feel like myself. A lot of it's got to do with what happened with Jolinar," she tried explaining.

"From the brain stamp you mean?"

"No... not only that. It's just that I've been hurting so much lately, second guessing my instincts because I've felt..._ wrong_. I guess that's what this whole fiasco was about. That, and the fact that I've never been good with men."

"I wouldn't say that, Carter. My son adores you. He keeps calling to ask about you, wouldn't stop until I promised to bring you with me the next time I took him fishing. Shit, I never did thank you for looking out for him, did I? I don't even want to think about what could have happened if you hadn't gotten him out the way. He told me everything, I guess I just locked it away in a place where I wouldn't have to think of it."

"He's a great kid O'Neill... and of course I got him out of the way. What kind of sister would I be if I hadn't?"

"What?"

"Never mind, it's a sibling thing, and you've got only-child written all over you," She commented, pulling her knees up so she could wrap her arms around her legs. She didn't turn back to him.

Jack had felt her recoiling from him gradually, and he'd been so tempted to take her by the arm and simply pull her back. She wasn't reacting to anything at the moment, giving no indication of what was going through her head. Jack realizedthat if he wanted to find out, he'd have to start by asking the right questions

"Carter, what we were doing... just now," he began softly, "Do you realize what it meant? I don't know if you've ever been court martialed before, but it's not an experience you want to repeat."

"I didn't mean to put you in that position...I'm sorr--"

"I wasn't fishing for an apology. I just really need to know why you did it. Was it just a convenience?"

"No! Can we please blame it all on post-traumatic stress? I don't want you thinking that I was just using you like I'd planned to do with Dillan. You mean more to me than that. Ever since... ever since what happened when I lost Jolinar...It was one of the worst experiences of my life, and you didn't leave me alone even when told you to. You knew what I needed and you stayed with me. Being with you is... uhmm..." she cleared her throat, not certain if she wanted to continue. His hand reached for hers, enveloping it with his own. The gesture was almost more than she could take.

"O'Neill, being with you is almost as hard as being_ away_ from you... because I care about you more than I'd realized. Please don't ask me where this is coming from, because I really don't know. Obviously I'm not going to expect you to act on anything I say, it's not fair to you. I shouldn't have assumed you wanted the same things I did... bit arrogant of me, wasn't it? Whatever issues I have, everything I've been afraid of... it doesn't compare to what's happening outside that door."

"Which door? This door?" He asked hoarsely, still not past the part where she'd said she cared about him.

Sam smiled at his confusion, "Any door. I'm talking about the grander scheme of things. The SGC, Earth, the Tok'ra."

"I see what you mean."

"You do?" She asked hopefully.

"No."

Sam broke into a rueful smile, getting to her feet and tugging his hand so he was forced to stand with her. "Never mind O'Neill. Let's just say that sleeping with you probably wasn't one of my brightest ideas. I'm already embarrassed about it, and I'm so sorry if I made things awkward. I understand if you want to leave, in fact I think it's probably a good idea. I...I think I need a drink."

She turned, and made her way to the fridge, reaching for the sole beer that stood alone that the back. Jack appeared behind her a moment later, his breath close to her ear.

"You didn't make things awkward, I don't want to leave, and as for that drink... that can't be good for you right now," Jack made his reply. He reached around to the sink, pouring her a glass of water and offering it to her in exchange for the beer. She'd reluctantly made the swap.

"Carter, thank you for being honest with me," he said, knowing her confession had left her exposed and uncertain, "...But I have a feeling that you've underestimated the extent of what I feel for you."

She looked up at him wide eyed, "Didn't we just establish that the whole feelings thing was a bad idea?"

"No.._. you_ said a whole bunch of things that I didn't quite follow, but I haven't actually voiced my opinion on the matter, and there's something I've been wanting to—"

"O'Neill, you better not say what I think you're about to say, because it'll just make things worse," she interrupted, taking a long cool sip of her drink. It ran soothingly down her throat, but hadn't managed to relax her in the way she'd needed.

"Carter... Sam... will you marry me?"

Jack had never actually seen water shoot out of someone's nose, and he was pretty certain he never wanted to repeat the experience.

She looked like she was trying to say something, but had somehow managed to choke on the liquid in the process of spluttering out the words.

"Carter! I was joking, I swear," He said, trying not to laugh since it would only add fuel to the situation. Then again, he was also starting to realize how much he enjoyed antagonizing her. So he'd ended up laughing, but handed her a kleenex off the counter to make up for it.

"Fucking hell, O'Neill. You don't pull that kind of a stunt on a woman!" She scolded irately, embarrassed that she'd made a mess of herself.

"Sorry, but you weren't really listening to me, and I had to get you to shut up," he said in defense of his actions, "If you haven't noticed Carter, there's two people in this situation. You and me. I for one, actually _want_ to see where this relationship is going."

She stopped, midway through blowing her nose, "Are you serious?" she asked nasally.

"Absolutely."

"Well your timing sucks."

"Yours isn't much better, Carter."

"We'd have to wait you know," she said, her logic kicking in automatcally, "We can't go any further without deciding what to do with ourselves."

"You could always retire?" He suggested, barely keeping a straight face.

"Bite me."

"Don't tempt me," He replied, sending a smoldering look her way.

"Well why don't you retire, O'Neill? You're what... late forties?"

"Mid! Mid forties," he corrected, quite offended, "And you know I can't retire. You were the one who brought me back into it in the first place, now I don't think I can leave again. Besides, if I do go then you'll never see me running around in uniform, being all heroic, and you'll completely lose interest in me sexually."

"Believe me O'Neill, your _heroics_ have nothing to do with my interest in you. Sexual, or otherwise," she told him, her smile playful yet sincere. She had no idea that her statement had sent his body throbbing back to life with a vengeance.

"...And that's my cue to leave," he said with finality.

She looked bewildered for a moment, a small frown appearing in her features as she wondered if he was going to pull one of his disappearing stunts again.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because, Carter... you've had an incredible effect on my body tonight, and now I have this little... problem," he said, clearly embarrassed that it had only taken a few words from her to do this to him.

"Not so little apparently," she said with appreciation, her eyes trailing south, "I'd love to take care of it for you, but I guess you're right."

Jack swore loudly in annoyance. His mouth descended on hers just as her arms hooked around his neck. This kiss was much different from the first they had shared. This one had no heavy emotion, but was evidence of a certain adoration and need they felt for each other. It had escalated quickly, but control had been something they'd dealt with before. They pulled apart, naturally resting their foreheads against each other as the sounds of irregular breathing filled the air.

"Carter, we're going to Vorash in the morning, you're getting this Tok'ra shit sorted out, I'm giving you back your job, and when we come home, we're figuring out this mess in a way that'll let us be together. I don't care what it takes, you'll be in love with me by the end of the week," he promised, then turned to leave before he was tempted to do otherwise.

She stood in her doorway, the pleasant sounds of night warmed her as she watched his truck disappear down the dimly lit street. Sam couldn't help but feel slightly giddy, her body still humming with the memory of him. Absently, she touched her lips, recalling the dizzying taste of his mouth on hers. Something told her she wouldn't have to wait until the end the week to fall for him.

She was _so _already there.

* * *

Please review! 

I put you into a fluff coma, didn't I? Hopefully that whole exchange didn't seem too abrupt, but I guess I'd meant for it to be that way. You know what happens when you rush into something with a neat little plan... it never works out the way it's supposed to. ;)


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